A founder and ex-chairman of the Hong Kong Sinfonietta has been charged
with stealing about HK$220,000 (currently US$28,200) from the government-funded
orchestra while he was chairman, Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against
Corruption announced last week.
Henry Yu, 59, faces 16 charges of false accounting and two of theft, the commission said in a press statement.
According to the commission, Yu falsified records of payments made to musicians and then pocketed the difference between the actual expenses and the inflated amount. The theft charges stem from the alleged misappropriation of two unspecified debt repayments due to the Sinfonietta from a local bank. The offenses allegedly took place between January 1996 and February 1998.
Yu was arrested last July for allegedly embezzling HK$6.2 million (US$795,000) by issuing checks under the orchestra's name to himself, his wife and daughter, but was never charged.
Yu appeared in court late last week, but did not enter a plea. He was released on HK$113,000 (US$14,500) bail and ordered not to leave Hong Kong. The case was adjourned until 11 October.
Ann Wong, a spokesperson for the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, declined to comment on Yu's case, noting that the orchestra reincorporated into a new company in 1999 and that the new management has no connections or contacts with Yu. In a statement, the orchestra said, "the founding board of governors of the new Hong Kong Sinfonietta Limited recruited a new professional team to manage the operation of the orchestra and has since established a sound management system."
Yu was not available for comment.
Yu founded the Sinfonietta in 1990 with a handful of fellow music lovers. He stepped down as chairman when the Sinfonietta restructured in 1999 but continued to serve as a board member. Last year, he was suspended from the board when authorities began their investigation (and his term on the board has since expired). He was a full-time X-ray technician at a local hospital at the time of his arrest.
Earlier this year, the group faced months of uncertainty over its financial
future before receiving a grant of HK$11.8 million (US$1.51 million) from the
Hong Kong Arts Development. This month, the Sinfonietta turned full-time under
the direction of a new music director, Yip Wing-Sie, becoming the second
full-time Western classical music orchestra in Hong Kong after the Hong Kong
Philharmonic.
