Four Chanel warehouse workers face prison for stealing luxury goods meant for destruction

Four current and former warehouse employees of Chanel's Hong Kong branch have been implicated in a massive scheme to steal out-of-season luxury items slated for disposal.

Following a High Court trial, two men were convicted of conspiracy to steal and remanded in custody, joining two other co-conspirators who had previously pleaded guilty, as they all await their final sentencing.

Jury convicts former warehouse staff

During the trial, a jury unanimously found 42-year-old former warehouse department supervisor Ng Yiu-lun and 42-year-old former warehouse worker Cheung Ka-wai guilty of conspiracy to steal.

The court heard that the pair conspired with two other warehouse employees, Ho Tung-shan and Ho Tsz-yin, to steal a massive haul of luxury items from the company's Tsing Yi logistics center between January and February 2017.

The two accomplices had already admitted to their roles prior to the trial.

High Court Judge Douglas Yau Tak-hong ordered Ng and Cheung to be remanded in custody, with sentencing for all four individuals scheduled for August 3.

A separate charge of handling stolen goods against Cheung—which accused him of dealing with a pair of earrings, a necklace, a pair of shoes, and four handbags—was dismissed by a majority verdict.

Heist exploited routine inventory destruction

The prosecution revealed that the French luxury brand's Hong Kong branch enforces a strict commercial policy of destroying 10,000 to 20,000 outdated luxury items every six months to protect brand exclusivity.

The standard disposal procedure involved confirming the inventory, unboxing the goods at the company's 23rd-floor warehouse at the Kerry Cargo Centre in Tsing Yi, and transporting them via a security-controlled elevator to a shredding facility on the fifth floor.

However, instead of following protocol, the staff secretly stashed the valuable merchandise in hidden cardboard boxes on the 23rd floor, intending to smuggle them out of the facility.

Assistant manager foils smuggling attempt

The theft unraveled in early 2017 after Chanel launched an internal probe, having grown suspicious when two warehouse workers reporting to Ng began volunteering for unusual amounts of overtime.

Security cameras captured the coordinated effort to move the stolen goods.

While Ng acted as a lookout, the other men used pallet jacks to transport 33 cardboard boxes down to a parked delivery van on the underground loading level.

An assistant warehouse manager noticed the suspicious activity, intercepted Cheung at the vehicle, and immediately contacted the authorities.

Upon inspecting the boxes, police discovered 123 wallets and 601 handbags belonging to Chanel Hong Kong Limited that were supposed to have been destroyed.

Following his arrest, Cheung admitted to hiring the delivery van and directed officers to another storage unit he rented in Kwun Tong, where additional jewelry, footwear, and handbags were found.

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓