Lily Chiang fails in final appeal bid against conviction in HK$3 million scam
Jailed businesswoman expresses disappointment in judicial system after top court rejects her appeal
PUBLISHED : Monday, 27 January, 2014, 3:16pm
UPDATED : Monday, 27 January, 2014, 3:16pm
Austin Chiu [email protected]
Former General Chamber of Commerce chairwoman Lily Chiang Lai Lei (in green) was jailed three-and-a-half years over a share-option scam. Photo: K. Y. Cheng
Businesswoman Lily Chiang Lai-lei has failed to take to the top court an appeal against her conviction over a HK$3 million share-option scam for which she was jailed three-and-a-half years.
In the Court of Final Appeal on Monday, Chiang’s lawyers failed to argue that her case involved substantial and grave injustice and warranted a chance of appeal.
Chiang, 52, the daughter of industrialist Chiang Chen and the first woman to chair the General Chamber of Commerce, was jailed in June 2011 for fraud, conspiracy to defraud and authorising a prospectus that included an untrue statement.
“We are not persuaded this is a case that ought to be referred to the Court of Final Appeal,” Mr Justice Roberto Ribeiro said as he dismissed her application. Written reasons for the decision, by a panel of three judges, will be handed down later.
Outside court, Chiang did not respond to questions from the media. But in a statement distributed by her lawyers, she said she felt “sad, angry and helpless” with the top court’s decision.
“I had strongly believed that Hong Kong’s judicial system was fair and just. That was why even in the most difficult days, I still held this belief,” she wrote.
“That was the reason I went on to lodge appeal after appeal even after I served the jail term, hoping I could eventually have my name cleared.”
Chiang said she was now “completely disappointed” with the inherent injustice in Hong Kong’s judicial system, which she found out only after paying a huge price.
“Hong Kong’s judicial system lacks supervision by a third party,” she said. “To cover up a mistake, the courts would not hesitate to make a greater mistake.”
But she would keep her head up and not be frustrated by her failure to seek justice in court, she said.
