Hong Kong - A Hong Kong internet user has been prosecuted for posting a message on an online forum warning that a bank was facing financial problems, a news report said Friday. Jobless Leung Kin-wai, 34, was arrested by police after going on an internet forum to warn people to withdraw money from the Hong Kong-based bank, the South China Morning Post said.
He was charged with accessing a computer with dishonest intent and at a court hearing Thursday was put on a one-year good behaviour bond, according to the newspaper.
Leung claimed in court he posted the message after overhearing a conversation in a restaurant suggesting the bank might have problems due to its exposure to the US sub-prime mortgage crisis.
An employee at the bank saw the message and alerted police who arrested Leung at his home in the city's Shau Kei Wan district on September 27, the court was told.
Leung's arrest and prosecution came after separate false rumours spread by text message that the Bank of East Asia in Hong Kong was heading for bankruptcy triggered city-wide panic in September.
Customers rushed to withdraw more than 250 million US dollars in deposits as gossip that the Bank of East Asia was in financial difficulty spread by SMS message through the city of 6.9 million.
The two-day run on the bank's 140 branches only eased after Hong Kong's chief executive and the head of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority gave assurances the bank was safe.
