Filmmaker sentenced to five months in prison

A veteran filmmaker on Tuesday was sentenced to five months imprisonment for insider trading at West Kowloon Magistracy. Raymond Wong was found guilty in May for obtaining price-sensitive information — at a company he chaired in 2017 — that was supposed to have been kept confidential due to the signing of a memorandum of understanding and receiving a good faith deposit of HK$10 million from a third party. The court heard Wong subsequently transferred HK$2 million to his younger sister, who began purchasing shares of Pegasus Entertainment Holdings Limited the same day. He also sent his sister multiple messages on when, and at what price, to purchase shares of the company. His sister ultimately purchased over nine million shares at prices significantly below market value, with most of the purchases funded by money from Wong. In sentencing, magistrate Ko Wai-hung said Wong's conduct had undermined public confidence in the Hong Kong securities market. The magistrate added that even though Wong's reputation had been severely damaged by this case, it did not mean he was entitled to special circumstances despite his extraordinary contributions to the local film scene. But Ko noted the likelihood of Wong committing the same offence again was low due to his age and relatively simple nature of the offence. Compared with similar cases, Ko said, the actual financial gain Wong's sister derived from the transactions was not particularly substantial. In addition to the five-month prison term, Wong was ordered to pay a fine of about HK$100,000, and another HK$370,000 to the Securities and Futures Commission to cover their investigation and legal costs. Wong has been released on bail pending appeal. Edited by Tony Sabine