Our Sites More UPDATED EVERY 5 MINUTES

News Business Sport Metro Tech Lifestyle Opinion Videos Property Jobs Autos More

ASEAN/East Asia Home > News > ASEAN/East Asia

Thursday, 24 August 2017 | MYT 10:01 AM

How a Hong Kong man who stole

a million dollars went to jail and
went back to work in finance
BY JULIA HOLLINGSWORTH

ADVERTISEMENT

Latest News
Colombian TV channel Caracol says Venezuela
pulled it from airways

'Safer than London!' North Korea opens door to

Russian tourists

open in browser PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API pdfcrowd.com
 Up to 14 people missing after Swiss landslide -
police

Macron confident of deal on 'posted' workers after

meeting Romanian president

Finnish police release one knife attack suspect

NOW
SHOWT IMES HAPPENINGS
SHOWING

After serving time behind bars for stealing HK$1 million from his company and
losing his accounting credentials, Timothy Chan Hing-mo had little hope of ever
working in the industry again.

Now the 40-year-old Hongkonger is back to crunching numbers thanks to a social

enterprise accounting firm, believed to be the first of its kind in the city.
BUY T ICKET S WAT CH T RAILER
Prisoner rehabilitation is a job for Hong Kongs community at large
Chan works at Navigator Consultancy, a financing and asset management
company with a twist. Unlike the glitzy financial firms that operate out of Hong
Kongs central business district, four of its six-strong staff are former prisoners. Most Viewed in News
SEA Games: Videos of duo playing dhol at football
Although criminologists agree that employment is one of the best ways to keep match go viral
ex-convicts free of crime, a 2015 survey found , only 20 per cent of former
Two Singaporeans jailed in Abu Dhabi for wearing
prisoners were employed full-time. women's clothes

Navigators founder, Thomas Lau Kam-tai, a certified accountant himself, decided 44 Chevening scholars off to UK next month

to open his own social enterprise in 2013 after noticing that many ex-inmates US Navy: Body found by Malaysia not USS McCain
struggled to find jobs that suited them. sailor

open in browser PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API pdfcrowd.com

Not everyone would like to work with ex-inmates. Once they know it, they will kind found safe
of freak out, he said. Eventually we have to do it by ourselves.
Lau takes on inmates screened by the Correctional Services Department and
trains them. People with a criminal record cannot pass the certified public
accountants exam, but inmates who finish training at Navigator can still be
independent accountants.
So far, 13 former employees have gone on to work at professional services firm
Ernst & Young, with which Navigator has an agreement.
Cops: Ex-Special Branch officer reported missing
Police use taser to stop woman from committing
suicide
Tourists from China, Hong Kong hold protests to
demand flights home
Education Ministry says controversial book not its
publication
SEA Games bus driver jailed after failing to pay
RM20,400 in traffic fines

Woman cuts off son's penis to 'get back at

Its not a good idea its a disaster, Lau said with a laugh when asked why he
husband's family'
decided to pour extra effort into training ex-convicts in such a competitive
industry. I dont think this is a clever way to [run an accounting business], he said.
Trending in Food
At first, Lau kept the social enterprise aspect of his business secret from clients, How did these guys make the worlds
but it became public when he won a Spirit of Hong Kong award last year. Instead largest samosa?
of turning clients off as he feared, he gained more of them.

open in browser PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API pdfcrowd.com
 Why you should get to know Finnish
food

Hainanese Chicken Rice recipe

Full of heart in this collection of

Malaysian food stories

Fenix on the rise with perfectly-

cooked Sg Pahang fish, Bukit Tinggi
veg

Powered by

Chan, one of Laus first employees, spent five years in a mainland prison and
another eight months in Hong Kongs Pik Uk Correctional Institution after stealing
over HK$1 million from the company where he worked as an accountant to fund
his gambling addiction.

To me, it was like a vacation when I came from the mainland [prison] to Hong
Kong, he said, adding that in mainland China he had cold baths and shared a tiny
bed with another inmate.

He initially planned to resume his life of crime once he was released. But when he
was given a surprisingly short sentence in Hong Kong, he saw it as a miracle, and
started wanting to live a good life so that God would not punish him.

open in browser PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API pdfcrowd.com
 When he got out in 2012, employers would ask him why there was a six-year gap
in his resume and would not want to take a risk when he told the truth.

Hong Kongs prison system explained

His pastor finally referred him to Lau, who is also a Christian, and he scored a job
at Navigator.

Most of the jobs referred by the government involve labour work, he said, adding
that support was better for labourers. When I went to offices, many of them gave
ADVERTISEMENT
the impression that they didnt want to hire me anyway.

Fellow Navigator employee Justin Ng, 30, was released from Pak Sha Wan
Correctional Institution in Stanley in May after serving seven horrible months for
theft.

Ng began working in accounting after graduating in 2008 and is currently studying

to become a chartered financial accountant. He maintains his innocence, but if his
appeal is not successful, he will not be able to get the certification.

He got a job at Navigator only a week after being released from jail through a
pastor. But he said his friends who applied for jobs referred to them by prison
officers never heard anything back.

The government always says it is trying to help rehabilitated people in many

ways. But when Im in prison, did I get a lot of help from the government or the
officers to cure my worries about when I come out of prison? I can say no, never.
Nearly never, he said.

If you do not want the person to go to jail again, you need to tell them society will
accept them and they do have a future, he said.

The problem now in Hong Kong is that rehabilitated people cant see any future.
open in browser PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API pdfcrowd.com
 For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app.
Copyright 2017.

TAGS / KEYWORDS:
SCMP , News , Hong Kong , Law Crime

Related Stories
Macau death toll rises to eight with two more bodies found in flooded underground car park

How noisy Chinese tourists may be drowning out alien signals at the worlds biggest telescope

Evacuation from Tai O village as streets turned to rivers after Typhoon Hato hits Hong Kong

Hong Kong man arrested at border for carrying 276 porn DVDs he found in the garbage

Chinese tourists leave love declarations on 2,000-year-old tomb

You May Be Interested

open in browser PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API pdfcrowd.com
 Hong Kong man arrested at border India express train accident injures Which Unlimited Monster are you
for carrying 276 porn DVDs he... at least 42

Groups want police lock-up Are you ready for the big auto race First pregnancy worries
conditions improved in August

Recommended Recommended by

Magistrate takes the stand against Constant Fatigue Is A Warning Woman's decision to eat prawns
her alleged bully Sign - Here's The Simple Fix despite allergy turns out to be
Health Headlines

open in browser PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API pdfcrowd.com
 How To Fix Aging Skin (Do This Motocyclist kicks mirror, loses Indonesian bomoh nabbed for
Every Day) balance and kills pillion rider allegedly raping woman during
Health Headlines

ADVERTISEMENT

SITE MAP SUBSCRIPTIONS COMPANY INFO OUR SITES SEARCH THE STAR ONLINE

Home The Star newspaper About Us Star2.com

Search
Videos Other Publications Contact Us myStarjob.com

News RSS Feeds Job Opportunities Carsifu

Stay updated with our FREE email newsletter!
Business OTHER EDITIONS Investor Relations StarProperty.my
your e-mail address
Sport ePaper FAQs Propwall

Metro Mobile ADVERTISING iBilik

Lifestyle SMS Services View Our Rate Card R.AGE

Tech mStar
MAGAZINES POLICIES
Opinion Kuali
Kuntum Privacy Statement
TheStarTV.com
Terms of Use CONNECT WITH US
StarCherish.com

Content Partner Our Radio Stations Video On Demand

open in browser PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API pdfcrowd.com
 Copyright 1995-2017 Star Media Group Berhad (ROC 10894D)

open in browser PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API pdfcrowd.com