Account supervisor of party products supplier charged by ICAC sentenced to six and a half years’ jail at High Court for stealing $16m

An ICAC corruption investigation earlier revealed that a then account supervisor of a party products supplier had misappropriated company funds totalling approximately $16 million by forging signatures on over 400 cheques. The defendant was sentenced to an imprisonment of six and a half years following his guilty plea to theft at the Court of First Instance of the High Court.

Tam Chun-fung, 48, then account and administration supervisor of DSL Holding Limited (DSL), pleaded guilty today (April 24) to five counts of theft, contrary to section 9 of the Theft Ordinance. Two other similar charges against him were left on file at the High Court.

In sentencing, Deputy High Court Judge Tony Li remarked that the defendant was the company’s sole accounting staff member. Despite being deeply trusted by his employer, the defendant breached this trust by planning and committing offences over an extended period, using sophisticated methods to misappropriate company funds and squander the stolen money. The judge took a starting point of 10 years and three months’ imprisonment for the offences. Considering the defendant’s guilty plea and other mitigating factors, the jail term was reduced to six and a half years.

At the material time, the defendant was the sole employee of the accounting department of DSL, a party products supplier. He was responsible for preparing and safekeeping all company accounting records and cheques, though he was not an authorised signatory of the company’s bank account.

The defendant admitted that between August 2017 and February 2024, a period of six and a half years, he successively forged signatures on more than 400 cheques to misappropriate approximately $16 million from DSL’s bank account, and transferred the sum into his personal bank accounts.

The ICAC investigation found that the defendant used the monies for gambling and to support his girlfriends. He concealed the theft by falsely representing to DSL that the funds were expenses for purchasing materials and settling payments with suppliers, and by fabricating DSL’s accounting records.

DSL rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.

The prosecution was today represented by Senior Public Prosecutor Steven Liu, assisted by ICAC officer Vincent Ching.

Note: An imprisonment of six years and five months was pronounced by the Court of First Instance of the High Court on April 24, 2026. At the hearing on April 28, 2026, the jail sentence was amended to six and a half years.