IT manager sentenced to 22 months for stealing $1.2m in Deloitte laptops

A 40-year-old information technology (IT) manager was sentenced to 22 months in prison on Friday for stealing 423 laptop computers valued at HK$1.2 million from accounting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu over a 17‑month period, a district court ruled.

The defendant, Ho Man‑kit, pleaded guilty to stealing the laptops, which were the property of Deloitte, between 2021 and 2023. 

He was employed as an IT manager at the firm during the time of the offenses.

According to the details of the case, a systems engineer in Deloitte’s IT department conducted an inventory check on the morning of February 13, 2023, and discovered that 399 laptops were missing.

Security camera footage showed Ho, who was officially on leave, entering the storage room and placing multiple computers into cardboard boxes. Ho then handed the boxes to a recycler, who paid him cash and took the boxes away.

The recycler was stopped shortly afterward, and 10 Lenovo laptops were found from the boxes.

On February 15, 2023, Ho met with Deloitte‘s IT director and admitted that he had been stealing laptops from the company and selling them for cash since September 2021.

Ho later wrote a confession letter acknowledging that he had unlawfully sold approximately 300 of Deloitte's laptops without authorization for financial gain. He surrendered to police on the same day.

In handing down the sentence, District Court Judge Minnie Wat Lai‑man rebuked Ho for abusing his position of trust. She noted that as a department head responsible for managing the company’s computer equipment, he had carried out the thefts systematically over an extended period, exploiting his authority for personal gain.

The judge stated during sentencing that Ho had used the illicit proceeds from the resold laptops for speculative investments, ultimately losing all the money and leaving him unable to compensate Deloitte for its losses.

Ho had been subject to legal proceedings for three years following his arrest.

A psychiatric report also presented to the court indicated that he suffered from an adjustment disorder. Although he had recovered after receiving medication and treatment, his mental condition remained fragile, the court heard.

The judge handed down the 22‑month prison term in the District Court on Friday.

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