Raymond Wong was convicted of insider trading by the Hong Kong court on May 22.
According to a press release by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong, this comes after a 16-day criminal trial where the 80-year-old film producer-actor was accused of instigating his younger sister Jenny Wong to engage in insider trading of Pegasus Entertainment Holdings shares in 2017.
Raymond, who co-founded the company with his son Edmond in 2009, became aware of non-public information in 2017, including the signing of a memorandum of understanding and receipt of HK$10 million deposit (S$1,630,000) from a potential buyer, during negotiations to sell his controlling stake in the company.
After receiving the money, he transferred HK$2 million to his sister on Aug 25, 2017, with the latter purchasing Pegasus’ shares on the same day.
From Aug 30, 2017, Raymond also sent multiple messages to her, advising her on the timing and the price to buy Pegasus’ shares.
As such, between Aug 25 and Oct 17 that year, Wong bought nine million Pegasus shares at prices below what the market share price was after the deal was announced on Oct 25 that year.
She had purchased most of the shares using the monies Raymond transferred to her.
Based on SFC’s calculations using Pegasus’ post-announcement share price, it was estimated that she earned profits of more than HK$1 million from the trading. Pegasus Entertainment Holdings was renamed Transmit Entertainment in 2018.
The case is adjourned to June 9 for sentencing, and Raymond is currently out on bail.
Raymond, who debuted in Hong Kong showbiz in the early 1970s, acted in films including Happy Ghost (1984), Mr Coconut (1989) and All’s Well, Ends Well Too (1993).
In 1980, he formed production company Cinema City Enterprises Ltd, with actors including Chow Yun Fat and the late Leslie Cheung rising to fame under the label. Later, he formed Mandarin Films Distribution Co Ltd, serving as producers in films including Dragon Tiger Gate (2006) and Ip Man (2008).
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