Integrity Focus

A casual worker of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) shuttle bus, charged by the ICAC, today (August 19) admitted at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts that he had solicited a bribe for assisting two tourists who failed to provide valid tickets to board a shuttle bus departing from Hong Kong for Zhuhai during the pandemic last year. The defendant was sentenced to 10 weeks’ imprisonment.

Ng Kwong-lung, 36, then casual worker of Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Shuttle Bus Company Limited (HZMBus), pleaded guilty to one count of agent soliciting an advantage and one count of agent accepting an advantage, contrary to section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance.

Principal Magistrate Miss Ivy Chui Yee-mei noted that the defendant had committed a serious offence. The case involved mainland tourists and such behaviour had damaged Hong Kong’s international reputation. She added that the sentence was meted out to uphold Hong Kong’s integrity and fairness. The Principal Magistrate also ordered the defendant to pay Hong Kong dollars equivalent to RMB 500 (i.e. HK$540) to HZMBus.

HZMBus operates the HZMB shuttle bus service which runs between Hong Kong and Zhuhai. At the material time, according to the Mainland anti-pandemic measures, HZMB shuttle bus was allowed to carry a specific number of passengers daily from Hong Kong to Zhuhai. Only passengers with valid tickets booked through online real-name reservation were allowed to board the shuttle bus.

The court heard that the defendant was assigned to assist passengers to conduct the check-in process at the check-in gate of the Hong Kong Port of the HZMB, and to verify whether passengers had valid tickets for that day.

In the late evening of January 20, 2023, the day before Chinese New Year’s Eve, two tourists arrived at the Hong Kong Port of the HZMB. They sought assistance from the defendant as they had not managed to secure any tickets for that day or the following day.

ICAC enquiries revealed that the defendant solicited a bribe of $1,000 from the duo for assisting them to get on board. The defendant accepted a bribe of RMB 500 from one of them and allowed her to get on board without a valid ticket. The other tourist refused the solicitation.

HZMBus rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.

The prosecution was today represented by Senior Public Prosecutor Douglas Lau, assisted by ICAC officer Keira Cheung.