Chairman of the former publicly listed Firstone International Holdings Wan Sitt-kam and four others have been jailed for swindling over $100 million in Letters of Credit facilities.

District Court Deputy Judge Colin Mackintosh jailed Wan for four years and three months, and his wife Lee Sau-tong, Firstone's director, for three years and five months. Another director Chan Chuen-wing was jailed four years. Leo Yee-sang, a senior staff member, received three years and four months, while trading company proprietor Muk To-wai got 15 months.

Other Firstone staff, Ng Pik-yuk, Law Fung-chee and Lee Jen-chiek, and the former director of another trading company Ho Li-fang, had their sentencing adjourned until November 25, pending community service reports, and were granted bail.

Wan was found guilty on 11 counts of conspiracy to defraud, while the remaining defendants were also convicted of their roles in the scam.

An Independent Commission Against Corruption probe found the fraudulent scheme whereby the defendants deceived Letters of Credit facilities totalling over $100 million from a number of banks. The applications were based on bogus business transactions between February 1994 and December 1997.