A former investment company shareholder has been jailed 30 months by the District Court for defrauding the firm over a Sai Kung development.

Dai Shu-sing, 53, former shareholder of Mart Treasure Investment, was extradited from Canada to Hong Kong to face prosecution. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud today. The court ordered five other theft charges against him be left on the court file.

In May 1997, Mart Treasure's legal advisor Peter Chan, through a middleman, approached Paron Investment, which agreed to purchase the Sai Kung project for $13.2 million.

At a meeting between shareholders and directors of Mart Treasure, Dai and Chan falsely represented that Paron had offered to purchase the project at $8.2 million, and persuaded other shareholders to sell the project at that price. Dai pocketed about $930,000 and Chan $1.14 million.

During the Independent Commission Against Corruption investigation in November 2001, Dai fled to Canada and was arrested in Vancouver in May 2004.

Chan, who was also charged for his role in the case, was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud, and sentenced to five years jail in 2004.