HK Concert Promoter Sentenced

Concert promoter Abba Chan Tat-chee was sentenced July 11 to three years in prison for embezzlement and money laundering by a Hong Kong district court.

Chan, whose nickname is Uncle Ba, was convicted of stealing more than HK$63 million (US$8 million) from two listed companies of which he was the chairman: China Sciences Conservational Power and China Conservational Power Holdings.

Funds designated for loans and for buying shares in another company somehow found their way into bank accounts controlled by Chan’s concert promotion company.

Seventeen celebrities, including Andy Lau and Samuel Hui, wrote letters to Judge Stanley Chan Kwong-chi (no relation) attesting to Chan’s character and asking for leniency.

Chan’s defense pleaded that their client has been “used” by his three co-defendants, who took advantage of his easygoing demeanor, but the judge said he could find no evidence that Chan was “entrapped,” citing the large number of falsified documents involved in the case. As a result of the wrongdoing, shareholders of the two companies faced increased risk with their investments.

In his letter, Lau wrote that Chan was “very sociable and very generous in helping others.” Hui said that the man who first promoted his concerts in 2004 “is a trustworthy person.”