Senior PC store staff accused of running secret rival shop with stolen inventory — Hong Kong retailer claims substantial losses over year-long scheme

Future Technology, a PC retailer in Wan Chai's Computer Zone 298 mall in Hong Kong, has accused two of its senior employees of stealing company stock for roughly a year and reselling it through a custom-built web store they secretly ran. The retailer says it has referred the case to Hong Kong police, and the city's Independent Commission against Corruption (ICAC) describes the still-uncounted losses as "quite substantial" (translated), and has asked customers of the store in question, Point Connect, to come forward because their purchases may be stolen goods. Point Connect responded the same day with a statement posted to its website calling the allegations "seriously untrue and maliciously fabricated," threatening defamation proceedings.

The two accused men, surnamed Chung and Wong, were long-serving employees, with one holding a manager-level position, according to Future Technology's account as reported by HKEPC.

The pair allegedly exploited their knowledge of the shop's internal operations, inventory management, and logistics to move goods out of stock over about a year, then sold them through Point Connect, a build-to-order store at pc-hk.com. Future Technology claims to hold CCTV footage, abnormal inventory records, and employee chat logs as evidence.

The ICAC referral relies on suspected breaches of Hong Kong's Prevention of Bribery Ordinance, which covers employees accepting advantages behind an employer's back, alongside the theft allegations. Future Technology runs its own online storefront at buymore.hk, meaning the store its employees allegedly operated was competing directly with the company's e-commerce business using, per the accusations, the company's own inventory. The retailer hasn't yet put a figure on its losses but says an audit and stock count are underway, with civil claims and criminal proceedings expected to follow.

Point Connect's storefront at pc-hk.com now serves a formal statement from Point Connect Ltd dated July 16. The statement, translated from Chinese, says the accusations are "serious and malicious fabrications," demands that those responsible stop spreading them, and reserves "all necessary legal means" in response, including civil damages and criminal prosecution. It adds that the company's operations and finances are "normal and legal." Neither the police nor the ICAC has publicly confirmed an investigation, and no charges have been reported.

Insider theft feeding online resale has a track record in this industry: a UK product manager was jailed for three years after stealing $250,000 of PC hardware that an accomplice sold on eBay over seven years. Rising component prices have kept criminals busy this year, from a burglar who took $11,000 of GPUs from a Korean computer shop in February to thieves who swapped RTX 5080s for RTX 3060s in Chinese gaming hotels.

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