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| Ledesma after District Court hearing on Jan. 4, 2024 (File photo) |
A former musician charged with laundering about HK$5.55 million in illicit funds through his bank account almost five years ago, was ordered arrested today after he jumped bail on the second day of his trial at the District Court.
Jose Rizaldo R. Ledesma, who is said to go by two other
names and is 58 years old, also had his cash bail of $300 forfeited by Judge G.
Lam, who ordered that he not be allowed to post bail once arrested.
The three-day trial started yesterday (March 31) at the District
Court’s Tsuen Wan building, with the prosecutor making the opening statement.
Today, it could not start because he could not be found, even outside the court
room.
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| Basahin ang detalye! |
Ledesma is charged with “dealing with property known or
believed to represent proceeds of an indictable offence,” commonly known as
money laundering, which is contrary to section 25(1) and (3) of the Organized
Crimes Ordinance, Cap 455. The offence is punishable by up to 14 years in jail
and a maximum fine of $5 million.
Ledesma, who is also known as Jose Rizaldo Raymundo Ledesma
and Tose Rizhido R. Leoesma, is accused of having laundered a total of 5,500
Euros and USD706,468.21 in his Bank of China account between Aug 5, 2020 and
Oct 21, 2020.
On Jan 4 last year, after a hearing at the District Court, Ledesma
said he had told the police he had no knowledge of the illegal transactions
made using his account. He said he lost control over it shortly after collecting the
$10,000 Covid aid relief from the government, which was handed out to Hong Kong permanent residents in July 2020.
He has since pleaded not guilty to the charge, which resulted
in the trial being scheduled for March 31 to April 2.
