Joseph Leung, the former CEO of Hong Kong listed company Major Cellar, who was arrested by police last Friday for allegedly stealing HKD 25 million (US$3.21 million) worth of wines and spirits from a client, has posted bail, the police has exclusively told Vino Joy News.
According to Hong Kong police, Leung, the suspect in the center of the massive wine theft, has posted bail after being arrested last week.
The amount of the bail posted is not disclosed by the police, but Leung has to report to police on a regular basis until a court date is set.
According to police, the case is still under investigation and did not rule out that more suspects could be arrested.
Suspects convicted of theft could be sentenced to up to 10 years in jail, according to police.
Major Cellar had just issued a formal statement on July 12 after the news of Leung’s arrest broke.
The company quickly distanced itself from Leung and noted that the wines in question never entered Major Cellar’s storage facility, and that Leung resigned from the company in June.
In a phone call with Vino Joy News this morning, Major Cellar stated that the company was not ware of Leung’s action and only found out through news.
Up till last month, Leung had served as CEO, executive director and director of Major Cellar. According to a notice posted by the listed wine company on HKEX, Leung resigned from all posts on June 10, “due to his desire to devote more time to his personal affairs.”
The timing of resignation coincided with the time when the case was reported by the victim to the police in Tuen Mun, where the wines were stored.
The victim, a female wine buyer from mainland China, told police that she entrusted Leung with over 900 bottles of wines and spirits last September.
She found out 489 bottles were missing when Leung came up with a slew of excuses to delay wine delivery, prompting her to report to police last month. The missing bottles according to her are worth over HKD 25 million.
Police again in our email reply warned residents to safely store their treasured items with reputable companies.
“If you need to entrust or rent a warehouse to store your treasured belongings, you should find a reputable company and keep the relevant records and receipts to protect the rights of the owner.
“If you are in doubt, do not buy any goods from unknown sources and call the police for help immediately,” says the police.
No paperwork on both sides for a transaction of this scale? Doesn’t quite smell right yes?