A former procurement manager at Tse Sui Luen Jewellery has been jailed for six years and eight months after pleading guilty to three counts of theft.
Mui Ka-fai, 63, who worked for Tse Sui Luen Jewellery (International) for 36 years, stole more than HK$10 million worth of diamonds from three suppliers between April 2023 and February 2024.
The court heard that Mui stole a total of 2,557.35 carats of diamonds in 31 transactions.
He used his position to collect diamonds from suppliers on behalf of the company before selling them to fund his gambling activities.
Mui admitted the thefts to the company when he was dismissed in 2024. During a police caution, he also said he had misappropriated the diamonds out of greed.
In mitigation, the defense said Mui committed the offences because of family pressures.
Sentencing him on Friday (Aug 14), Judge Andrew Chan Hing-wai said Mui had breached the trust placed in him and abused his position as a procurement manager.
The judge said Mui had taken care to conceal his offending and that the thefts might not have been discovered if he had not been dismissed.
The offences involved three suppliers and 31 transactions over an eight-month period, causing substantial financial losses.
The judge adopted a starting point of 10 years’ imprisonment and reduced the sentence by one-third for Mui's guilty plea, resulting in a final sentence of six years and eight months.
