Deborah Annells

Deborah Annells is a former tax consultant and entrepreneur who founded and served as the Managing Director of Azuretax Limited, a company specializing in tax services for expatriates in Hong Kong.1 She held a Bachelor of Science in Philosophy from the Department of Sociology at LSE and was an alumnus of Westlain Grammar School. Prior to her role at Azuretax Limited, Annells held a directorial position at Citi.

In 2016, Annells was convicted of 47 charges of theft, fraud, and possession of a false instrument by a Hong Kong court.3 She was sentenced to nine years in prison for misappropriating over HK$30 million from four of her clients between June 2009 and April 2013.2 The case revealed significant regulatory shortcomings in Hong Kong's financial oversight systems.12

Annells was also a past president of the Rotary Club of Hong Kong and had sat on the general committee of the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.2 In 2013, she was expelled from the UK-based Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) for dishonesty and abuse of trust.14