Raymond Pak-Ming Wong attends a movie promotion event in 2018. Photo: VCG

Veteran Hong Kong film producer and actor Raymond Pak-Ming Wong was sentenced to five months in prison for insider trading and fined HK$99,000, according to Wen Wei Po, a Hong Kong-based Chinese language newspaper, on Tuesday.

Wong, 80, who is a longtime figure in the Hong Kong entertainment industry, was found to have passed on confidential information during a 2017 share acquisition period involving Transmit Entertainment. Prosecutors said he instructed his sister to purchase shares while in possession of non-public information. His sister therefore made a profit of about HK$1.03 million."

The judge said the case had undermined public confidence in the securities market. He noted that, although Wong had devoted his life to the film industry, and despite the psychological and health impact on Wong and his family, these factors did not justify a suspended sentence or community service order, Wen Wei Po reported.

The judge set a starting point of nine months' imprisonment, taking into account delays in the proceedings and the anxiety caused to Wong and his family by the uncertainty of the case. He also took into consideration Wong's charitable work.

After mitigation, Wong was sentenced to five months in prison. He was also fined HK$99,000 and ordered to pay about HK$370,000 in costs for investigation and legal expenses.

Born in1946 in Hong Kong, Wong is a known for works such as Ip Man (2008), Yip Man 4 (2019) and The Happy Ghost (1984), according to public information. 

Global Times