Integrity Focus

A property agent charged by the ICAC was today (November 2) sentenced to seven months’ imprisonment at the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts for soliciting and accepting bribes totalling $41,000 for assisting a tenant operating a claw machine shop to negotiate with the landlord for rent concessions and lease renewal during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chung Sau-man, 57, former property agent of Land Master & Associates (Shop) Limited (Land Master), was earlier found guilty of six charges – three of agent accepting an advantage and one of agent soliciting for an advantage, contrary to section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance; and two of incitement to furnish false information, contrary to the Common Law and section 19(1)(b) of the Theft Ordinance.

In sentencing, Magistrate Mr Jacky Ip Kai-leung reprimanded the defendant for orchestrating a scam to collect bribes from the tenant on different pretexts, adding that a sentence proportionate to the seriousness of the offences should be imposed on the defendant. The magistrate also ordered the defendant to repay $21,000, being the bribes involved in the case, to her former employer as restitution.

At the material time, Chung was a property agent of Land Master. Apart from procuring property transactions, she was responsible for providing post-transaction services to clients, including assisting them in the negotiation of rental adjustment or renewal of tenancy agreement. In general, Land Master would not charge its clients for the post-transaction services provided.

The court heard that a tenant rented a shop in Mong Kok for operating claw machine business at a monthly rental of $140,000 for a year starting from December 2019. Chung was the handling agent of the lease transaction. In view of the pandemic situation, the tenant had requested Chung to assist in the negotiations with the landlord on rent concession since late March 2020.

On various occasions between May and September 2020, Chung informed the tenant that the landlord had agreed to reduce the monthly rental of the shop, each ranging from a rental of 10 days to half of its monthly rental. Chung solicited a bribe from the tenant on each occasion and kept urging the latter to pay bribes despite the fact that her solicitation was repeatedly turned down. She eventually accepted three bribes totalling $21,000 from the tenant.

In October 2020, the tenant also engaged Chung to negotiate with the landlord for renewing the lease. The rent was eventually renewed by the landlord for a year and Chung further solicited a bribe of $20,000 from the tenant.

The court also heard that Chung gave five false receipts purportedly issued by a renovation contractor to the tenant and incited the tenant to use the receipts for the accounting purpose so as to cover up the bribe payments. The tenant did not use those receipts.

The ICAC investigation arose from a corruption complaint. Enquiries revealed that Land Master had never approved Chung to accept any rewards from the tenant, while the tenant had never engaged the renovation contractor, which was dissolved at the material time, to provide any services.

Chung’s male associate, Ng Chi-hung, 58, estate agent, was also charged by the ICAC for falsifying three of the aforesaid receipts to facilitate Chung’s acceptance of bribes. He earlier pleaded guilty to one count of false accounting, and was sentenced to 160 hours of community service order.

Land Master had rendered full assistance to the Commission during its investigation into the case.

The prosecution was today represented by prosecuting counsel Joe Chan, assisted by ICAC officer Jayne Woo.