Hong Kong singer Julian Cheung’s former manager jailed for two years over HK$1.5 million endorsement frauds
Judge hears pleas from lawyer of Leung Nga-sze, 44, who says client has a daughter with a rare disease
Canto-pop singer Julian Cheung Chi-lam’s former manager was jailed for two years by a Hong Kong court on Friday for cheating the celebrity out of almost HK$1.5 million (US$191,000).
Leung Nga-sze, 44, lied about the value of three advertising deals with various international brands and falsified contracts to pocket the difference. She was sentenced by the District Court which earlier this month convicted her on three counts of fraud.
Judge Timothy Casewell originally sentenced her to three years behind bars, but gave her a one-year deduction, after learning that she was the mother of a five-year-old daughter who suffers from a rare disease affecting the heart.
He also accepted that Leung had made “drastic changes” to her life by signing up for nursing courses, with aspirations to continue to contribute to society in the future.
But the judge rejected her lawyer’s last-ditch plea on Friday to suspend her sentence.
“I consider that an immediate custodial sentence is inevitable,” Casewell said, stressing that the accused had stolen from her boss, breaching the trust placed in her.