HK Chanel employees sentenced to 4-7 years of jail for stealing

Two employees from fashion brand Chanel's Hong Kong operations are found guilty of stealing more than 700 luxury items originally meant to be destroyed, receive prision sentences of five years and three months and seven years, respectively.

Ng Yiu-lun and Cheung Ka-wai, the two defendants who worked as employees at a Chanel warehouse in Tsing Yi, were found guilty of conspiracy to steal last week and remains remanded in custody.

According to findings in the case, for commercial reasons, Chanel would destroy up to 20,000 of its outdated items biannually using shredders.

In 2017, the two employees conspired with two other colleagues to steal Chanel items at the Tsing Yi warehouse, with plans to sell them at a later time.

The stolen lot included 123 wallets and 601 handbags with an estimated worth of over 19 million dollars.

But the group was caught in the act by an assistant manager as they were transporting the items, and were subsequently reported to police.

High Court Judge Yau Tak-hong stresses Ng was the mastermind behind the criminal act, given he was the only one who had the password to access the warehouse at the time.

Ng also suggested paying each of his conspirators as much as 50,000 dollars to steal the luxury goods.

Others in the group accused him of instructing them to transport the stolen items.

Cheung, who was not working for Chanel at the time of the case, was responsible for handling the stolen goods via a rental truck and a storage facility in Kwun Tong.

Taking into consideration the stolen items were immediately returned to Chanel upon the discovery of the crime, and the fact the sentencing of the case was delayed for a decade, the judge reduces the sentences by six to nine months.

Ng was ultimately sentenced to seven years in prison, while Cheung was given a sentence of five years and three months.

The two other defendants, Ho Tung-shan and Ho Tsz-yin, who pleaded guilty earlier, were each sent to prison for four years.