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Oct 2024Man charged by ICAC for allegedly offering $1,000 bribe to bank staff for opening accountThe ICAC today (October 21) charged a man with allegedly offering $1,000 to bribe a bank staff member for opening a business bank account for his company.Lyu Ganzhen, 36, businessman, faces one count of offering an advantage to an agent, contrary to section 9(2)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance. He will appear at the Fanling Magistrates’ Courts tomorrow (October 22) for plea.The investigation arose from a corruption complaint. Inquiries revealed that on August 27, 2024, the defendant visited a branch of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) in Fanling, requesting to open a business account for his company. He was received by a branch staff member.Understanding that the defendant intended to open a personal bank account for business purpose, the bank staff explained to the defendant that he was required to apply at HSBC Business Centre for opening a company bank account. The defendant was alleged to have handed a passport containing a bank note of HK$1,000 to the bank staff, who immediately rejected the offer.Subsequently, the defendant was alleged to have handed the passport with the HK$1,000 bank note to the bank staff twice again, stating that he did not come to Hong Kong very often and requested the bank staff to offer assistance in opening a company account. The bank staff rejected the defendant’s offer and reported the incident to his supervisor immediately. The defendant was arrested by ICAC officers on the same day upon his departure from Hong Kong.HSBC had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case. 18
Oct 2024Duo charged by ICAC with bribery over employment of subcontracted formworks workers at Community Isolation Facility construction siteThe ICAC yesterday (October 17) charged a former team leader and a former construction worker of a works subcontractor with soliciting and accepting bribes totalling about $98,000 from four newly-recruited formworks workers over the latter’s employment at a Community Isolation Facility construction site on Lantau Island during the pandemic.Lui Yu-shan, 52, former team leader of Ching Hung Engineering Company Limited (Ching Hung); and Chen Qiang, 45, former construction worker of Ching Hung, jointly face three counts of agents soliciting an advantage, while Lui further faces one count of agent accepting advantages, all contrary to section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance.The defendants were released on ICAC bail, pending their appearance at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts next Monday (October 21) for plea.The alleged offences took place between March and June 2022. At the material time, Ching Hung was a formworks subcontractor of the construction of a Community Isolation Facility at Penny’s Bay on Lantau Island, responsible for providing construction workers. At that time, Lui was a team leader of Ching Hung who was tasked to refer workers to the company and to supervise them, including Chen, at the construction site. The company prohibited its employees from soliciting or accepting advantages from others in relation to Ching Hung’s business and affairs.In March 2022, upon Chen’s referral, four formworks workers started working at the construction site at a daily wage of $2,000 each and under the supervision of Lui. On various occasions, the two defendants allegedly solicited bribes of $500 per working day from the four workers for assisting them to be employed.The ICAC investigation arose from a corruption complaint. Enquiries revealed that Lui and Chen had requested three of the formworks workers to pay the bribes to Lui. In fear of being terminated, the three workers made the bribe payments totalling about $66,000 to Lui whenever they had received wages from Ching Hung. In addition, Lui had also allegedly accepted bribes of $32,000 from another worker.Ching Hung rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.An ICAC spokesperson stresses that soliciting or accepting bribes for assisting others in employment is a serious bribery offence. The maximum penalty on conviction of the offence is a seven-year imprisonment and a fine of $500,000. The ICAC also urges construction workers not to tolerate corruption. Should they be asked to pay bribes in exchange for their employment, they should reject and report to the ICAC immediately through the 24-hour hotline (25 266 366). 17
Oct 2024Trio charged by ICAC with bribery and fraud over referral of bank clients’ mortgage loan applicationsThe ICAC had charged two former employees of two banks and a mortgage loan referral agent in the past two days (October 15 and 16) for alleged bribery and fraud in relation to referral of loan applications of clients without the banks’ permission and swindling referral fees by making false representations to the banks. The bribe money and agent referral fees involved totally over $34,000.Amy Chow Bik-sum, 48, former assistant customer service manager of OCBC Bank (Hong Kong) Limited (formerly known as OCBC Wing Hang Bank Limited) (OCBC); Yip Man-yee, 46, sole proprietor of The Capital Property (TCP); and Mak Miu-ling, 55, former deputy manager of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) Limited (ICBC (Asia)), jointly face one count of fraud, contrary to section 16A of the Theft Ordinance. Chow and Yip further face one count of conspiracy for an agent to accept an advantage, contrary to section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.The trio were released on ICAC bail, pending their appearance at the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts tomorrow (October 18) for plea.OCBC and ICBC (Asia) would release agency referral fees to the banks’ appointed mortgage intermediaries for successful residential mortgage applications, but the banks would not release commissions or agency referral fees to their staff who handled such applications.Cybernetics Property Mortgage Limited (CPM) was an appointed mortgage intermediary of ICBC (Asia). CPM would release 95% of the agency referral fee received from ICBC (Asia) as a broker fee to their agents for each successful mortgage application procured.At the material time, Chow was an assistant customer service manager of OCBC posted to its Tsim Sha Tsui branch, while Mak was a deputy manager of ICBC (Asia) posted to its Ho Man Tin branch. Among their duties, both Chow and Mak were responsible for handling residential mortgage applications. Yip was the sole proprietor of TCP, a lending referral agency, which was CPM’s agent in mortgage referral business and was entitled to receive a broker fee from CPM for each successful mortgage application referred to a bank.Between August 2019 and March 2021, Chow allegedly referred two OCBC clients to Mak and Yip respectively for arranging the clients to apply to ICBC (Asia) for mortgage loans.It is alleged that between September 2019 and March 2020, the trio falsely represented to ICBC (Asia) that the mortgage loan application of the aforesaid first client was referred by CPM, and deceived ICBC (Asia) into paying a mortgage loan referral fee of $18,000 to CPM.It is also alleged that between January and August 2021, Chow accepted a bribe of over $16,000 from Yip for referring the aforesaid second client’s mortgage loan application to TCP.The ICAC investigation arose from a corruption complaint. Enquiries revealed that Chow, without obtaining a permission from OCBC, had allegedly referred the two clients to Mak and Yip respectively for arranging the clients to file mortgage loan applications with ICBC (Asia). Due to the aforesaid scam, TCP received two broker fees of about $17,000 and about $32,000 respectively from CPM. The ICAC probe also revealed that the aforesaid first client had never entrusted CPM and TCP to file his mortgage loan application with ICBC (Asia). Since both ICBC (Asia) and CPM had no knowledge of the relevant actual situation, they had eventually released the agent referral fee and broker fee to CPM and TCP separately.OCBC did not allow its employees to refer mortgage loan applications of the bank’s clients to other individuals or institutions, and the bank also prohibited its employees from soliciting or accepting advantages from others in relation to OCBC’s business.OCBC, ICAC (Asia) and CPM have rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case. 15
Oct 2024Former worker of Airport project charged by ICAC receives seven months’ jail for accepting bribes over workers’ employmentA then installation worker of a project subcontractor of the SkyPier Terminal Ferry Transfer in the Hong Kong International Airport, earlier charged by the ICAC, was today (October 15) sentenced at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts to a jail term of seven months after admitting that he had accepted bribes of about $22,000 from three fellow workers for securing their employment with the subcontractor.Chan Kwai-san, 44, then installation worker of Jarvan E&M Engineering Limited (JEM), today pleaded guilty to three counts of agent accepting an advantage, contrary to section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance.In sentencing, Magistrate Mr Jason Wan Siu-ming remarked that the case, which was serious in nature, was not an isolated incident. The defendant exploited the workers by abusing his official capacity, and undermined the fairness of the society as well as the employer’s interest. The magistrate took a starting point of nine months’ imprisonment, and reduced the jail term to seven months having considered the defendant’s guilty plea and other mitigating factors. The defendant was also ordered to make a restitution of $21,800, equivalent to the amount of the bribes he accepted, to his then employer.The court heard that at the material time, JEM was the subcontractor of the baggage carousels installation works project at the SkyPier Terminal Ferry Transfer in the Hong Kong International Airport. JEM recruited workers mainly through referral from existing workers, and all workers were employed at a daily wage of $1,200. All JEM staff members were prohibited from soliciting or accepting advantages from others in relation to the company’s business. The defendant joined JEM in June 2022 as an installation worker of the project. He would also introduce workers to JEM.The defendant admitted that between July and November 2022, he had respectively solicited a bribe of $100 per working day from each of three fellow workers who joined JEM upon the defendant’s referral. The trio believed that if they did not pay the bribes, they would not be employed by JEM, and hence they acceded to the defendant’s solicitations. The defendant had accepted bribes from the trio totalling about $22,000, each ranging from $4,500 to $8,700.JEM had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.The prosecution was today represented by ICAC officer Cyrus Chan.An ICAC spokesperson stresses that soliciting or accepting bribes for assisting others in employment is a serious bribery offence. The maximum penalty on conviction of the offence is a seven-year imprisonment and a fine of $500,000. The ICAC also urges construction workers not to tolerate corruption. Should they be asked to pay bribes in exchange for their employment, they should reject and report to the ICAC immediately through the 24-hour hotline (25 266 366). 08
Oct 2024Company proprietor charged by ICAC gets 22 months’ jail for $3.1m SME guaranteed loan fraudA company proprietor, charged by the ICAC, was today (October 8) sentenced to an imprisonment of 22 months at the District Court after admitting that he had deceived a bank into approving a loan of $3.1 million under the Special 100% Loan Guarantee (SLG) scheme by making false representations concerning the company’s contributions to the employees’ Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF).Arri Wong Ka-nam, 55, proprietor of 24 Hr Locksmith, today pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud, contrary to the Common Law. In sentencing, Deputy Judge Mr Cheng Lim-chi remarked that fraud was a serious offence. He took a starting point of an imprisonment of 36 months and reduced the jail term to 22 months having considered the defendant’s guilty plea and other mitigating factors.The court heard that in April 2020, as one of the relief measures of the government, HKMC Insurance Limited (HKMCI) launched the SLG under the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Financing Guarantee Scheme to ease SMEs’ cash flow pressure during the pandemic.Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited (Standard Chartered Bank) was one of the participating lenders under the scheme. After confirming an application received was legitimate, the bank would forward the application to HKMCI for final review and approval to grant a guarantee.In September 2020, the defendant submitted an SLG loan application to Standard Chartered Bank, supported by false MPF statements which purportedly showed that 24 Hr Locksmith had made monthly contributions of $19,000 for its seven employees to an MPF trustee in Hong Kong.Standard Chartered Bank subsequently found that the loan application was suspicious and hence did not forward it to HKMCI for final approval. As a result, 24 Hr Locksmith had not been approved of the facility concerned.The ICAC investigation, which arose from a corruption complaint, revealed that 24 Hr Locksmith had never held any account with the MPF trustee nor made any MPF contributions for its employees.HKMCI, Standard Chartered Bank and the MPF trustee concerned had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.The prosecution was today represented by Acting Senior Public Prosecutor Jason Lau, assisted by ICAC officer Kiki Chu.
Oct 2024Man charged by ICAC for allegedly offering $1,000 bribe to bank staff for opening accountThe ICAC today (October 21) charged a man with allegedly offering $1,000 to bribe a bank staff member for opening a business bank account for his company.Lyu Ganzhen, 36, businessman, faces one count of offering an advantage to an agent, contrary to section 9(2)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance. He will appear at the Fanling Magistrates’ Courts tomorrow (October 22) for plea.The investigation arose from a corruption complaint. Inquiries revealed that on August 27, 2024, the defendant visited a branch of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) in Fanling, requesting to open a business account for his company. He was received by a branch staff member.Understanding that the defendant intended to open a personal bank account for business purpose, the bank staff explained to the defendant that he was required to apply at HSBC Business Centre for opening a company bank account. The defendant was alleged to have handed a passport containing a bank note of HK$1,000 to the bank staff, who immediately rejected the offer.Subsequently, the defendant was alleged to have handed the passport with the HK$1,000 bank note to the bank staff twice again, stating that he did not come to Hong Kong very often and requested the bank staff to offer assistance in opening a company account. The bank staff rejected the defendant’s offer and reported the incident to his supervisor immediately. The defendant was arrested by ICAC officers on the same day upon his departure from Hong Kong.HSBC had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case. 18
Oct 2024Duo charged by ICAC with bribery over employment of subcontracted formworks workers at Community Isolation Facility construction siteThe ICAC yesterday (October 17) charged a former team leader and a former construction worker of a works subcontractor with soliciting and accepting bribes totalling about $98,000 from four newly-recruited formworks workers over the latter’s employment at a Community Isolation Facility construction site on Lantau Island during the pandemic.Lui Yu-shan, 52, former team leader of Ching Hung Engineering Company Limited (Ching Hung); and Chen Qiang, 45, former construction worker of Ching Hung, jointly face three counts of agents soliciting an advantage, while Lui further faces one count of agent accepting advantages, all contrary to section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance.The defendants were released on ICAC bail, pending their appearance at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts next Monday (October 21) for plea.The alleged offences took place between March and June 2022. At the material time, Ching Hung was a formworks subcontractor of the construction of a Community Isolation Facility at Penny’s Bay on Lantau Island, responsible for providing construction workers. At that time, Lui was a team leader of Ching Hung who was tasked to refer workers to the company and to supervise them, including Chen, at the construction site. The company prohibited its employees from soliciting or accepting advantages from others in relation to Ching Hung’s business and affairs.In March 2022, upon Chen’s referral, four formworks workers started working at the construction site at a daily wage of $2,000 each and under the supervision of Lui. On various occasions, the two defendants allegedly solicited bribes of $500 per working day from the four workers for assisting them to be employed.The ICAC investigation arose from a corruption complaint. Enquiries revealed that Lui and Chen had requested three of the formworks workers to pay the bribes to Lui. In fear of being terminated, the three workers made the bribe payments totalling about $66,000 to Lui whenever they had received wages from Ching Hung. In addition, Lui had also allegedly accepted bribes of $32,000 from another worker.Ching Hung rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.An ICAC spokesperson stresses that soliciting or accepting bribes for assisting others in employment is a serious bribery offence. The maximum penalty on conviction of the offence is a seven-year imprisonment and a fine of $500,000. The ICAC also urges construction workers not to tolerate corruption. Should they be asked to pay bribes in exchange for their employment, they should reject and report to the ICAC immediately through the 24-hour hotline (25 266 366). 17
Oct 2024Trio charged by ICAC with bribery and fraud over referral of bank clients’ mortgage loan applicationsThe ICAC had charged two former employees of two banks and a mortgage loan referral agent in the past two days (October 15 and 16) for alleged bribery and fraud in relation to referral of loan applications of clients without the banks’ permission and swindling referral fees by making false representations to the banks. The bribe money and agent referral fees involved totally over $34,000.Amy Chow Bik-sum, 48, former assistant customer service manager of OCBC Bank (Hong Kong) Limited (formerly known as OCBC Wing Hang Bank Limited) (OCBC); Yip Man-yee, 46, sole proprietor of The Capital Property (TCP); and Mak Miu-ling, 55, former deputy manager of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) Limited (ICBC (Asia)), jointly face one count of fraud, contrary to section 16A of the Theft Ordinance. Chow and Yip further face one count of conspiracy for an agent to accept an advantage, contrary to section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.The trio were released on ICAC bail, pending their appearance at the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts tomorrow (October 18) for plea.OCBC and ICBC (Asia) would release agency referral fees to the banks’ appointed mortgage intermediaries for successful residential mortgage applications, but the banks would not release commissions or agency referral fees to their staff who handled such applications.Cybernetics Property Mortgage Limited (CPM) was an appointed mortgage intermediary of ICBC (Asia). CPM would release 95% of the agency referral fee received from ICBC (Asia) as a broker fee to their agents for each successful mortgage application procured.At the material time, Chow was an assistant customer service manager of OCBC posted to its Tsim Sha Tsui branch, while Mak was a deputy manager of ICBC (Asia) posted to its Ho Man Tin branch. Among their duties, both Chow and Mak were responsible for handling residential mortgage applications. Yip was the sole proprietor of TCP, a lending referral agency, which was CPM’s agent in mortgage referral business and was entitled to receive a broker fee from CPM for each successful mortgage application referred to a bank.Between August 2019 and March 2021, Chow allegedly referred two OCBC clients to Mak and Yip respectively for arranging the clients to apply to ICBC (Asia) for mortgage loans.It is alleged that between September 2019 and March 2020, the trio falsely represented to ICBC (Asia) that the mortgage loan application of the aforesaid first client was referred by CPM, and deceived ICBC (Asia) into paying a mortgage loan referral fee of $18,000 to CPM.It is also alleged that between January and August 2021, Chow accepted a bribe of over $16,000 from Yip for referring the aforesaid second client’s mortgage loan application to TCP.The ICAC investigation arose from a corruption complaint. Enquiries revealed that Chow, without obtaining a permission from OCBC, had allegedly referred the two clients to Mak and Yip respectively for arranging the clients to file mortgage loan applications with ICBC (Asia). Due to the aforesaid scam, TCP received two broker fees of about $17,000 and about $32,000 respectively from CPM. The ICAC probe also revealed that the aforesaid first client had never entrusted CPM and TCP to file his mortgage loan application with ICBC (Asia). Since both ICBC (Asia) and CPM had no knowledge of the relevant actual situation, they had eventually released the agent referral fee and broker fee to CPM and TCP separately.OCBC did not allow its employees to refer mortgage loan applications of the bank’s clients to other individuals or institutions, and the bank also prohibited its employees from soliciting or accepting advantages from others in relation to OCBC’s business.OCBC, ICAC (Asia) and CPM have rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case. 15
Oct 2024Former worker of Airport project charged by ICAC receives seven months’ jail for accepting bribes over workers’ employmentA then installation worker of a project subcontractor of the SkyPier Terminal Ferry Transfer in the Hong Kong International Airport, earlier charged by the ICAC, was today (October 15) sentenced at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts to a jail term of seven months after admitting that he had accepted bribes of about $22,000 from three fellow workers for securing their employment with the subcontractor.Chan Kwai-san, 44, then installation worker of Jarvan E&M Engineering Limited (JEM), today pleaded guilty to three counts of agent accepting an advantage, contrary to section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance.In sentencing, Magistrate Mr Jason Wan Siu-ming remarked that the case, which was serious in nature, was not an isolated incident. The defendant exploited the workers by abusing his official capacity, and undermined the fairness of the society as well as the employer’s interest. The magistrate took a starting point of nine months’ imprisonment, and reduced the jail term to seven months having considered the defendant’s guilty plea and other mitigating factors. The defendant was also ordered to make a restitution of $21,800, equivalent to the amount of the bribes he accepted, to his then employer.The court heard that at the material time, JEM was the subcontractor of the baggage carousels installation works project at the SkyPier Terminal Ferry Transfer in the Hong Kong International Airport. JEM recruited workers mainly through referral from existing workers, and all workers were employed at a daily wage of $1,200. All JEM staff members were prohibited from soliciting or accepting advantages from others in relation to the company’s business. The defendant joined JEM in June 2022 as an installation worker of the project. He would also introduce workers to JEM.The defendant admitted that between July and November 2022, he had respectively solicited a bribe of $100 per working day from each of three fellow workers who joined JEM upon the defendant’s referral. The trio believed that if they did not pay the bribes, they would not be employed by JEM, and hence they acceded to the defendant’s solicitations. The defendant had accepted bribes from the trio totalling about $22,000, each ranging from $4,500 to $8,700.JEM had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.The prosecution was today represented by ICAC officer Cyrus Chan.An ICAC spokesperson stresses that soliciting or accepting bribes for assisting others in employment is a serious bribery offence. The maximum penalty on conviction of the offence is a seven-year imprisonment and a fine of $500,000. The ICAC also urges construction workers not to tolerate corruption. Should they be asked to pay bribes in exchange for their employment, they should reject and report to the ICAC immediately through the 24-hour hotline (25 266 366). 08
Oct 2024Company proprietor charged by ICAC gets 22 months’ jail for $3.1m SME guaranteed loan fraudA company proprietor, charged by the ICAC, was today (October 8) sentenced to an imprisonment of 22 months at the District Court after admitting that he had deceived a bank into approving a loan of $3.1 million under the Special 100% Loan Guarantee (SLG) scheme by making false representations concerning the company’s contributions to the employees’ Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF).Arri Wong Ka-nam, 55, proprietor of 24 Hr Locksmith, today pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud, contrary to the Common Law. In sentencing, Deputy Judge Mr Cheng Lim-chi remarked that fraud was a serious offence. He took a starting point of an imprisonment of 36 months and reduced the jail term to 22 months having considered the defendant’s guilty plea and other mitigating factors.The court heard that in April 2020, as one of the relief measures of the government, HKMC Insurance Limited (HKMCI) launched the SLG under the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Financing Guarantee Scheme to ease SMEs’ cash flow pressure during the pandemic.Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited (Standard Chartered Bank) was one of the participating lenders under the scheme. After confirming an application received was legitimate, the bank would forward the application to HKMCI for final review and approval to grant a guarantee.In September 2020, the defendant submitted an SLG loan application to Standard Chartered Bank, supported by false MPF statements which purportedly showed that 24 Hr Locksmith had made monthly contributions of $19,000 for its seven employees to an MPF trustee in Hong Kong.Standard Chartered Bank subsequently found that the loan application was suspicious and hence did not forward it to HKMCI for final approval. As a result, 24 Hr Locksmith had not been approved of the facility concerned.The ICAC investigation, which arose from a corruption complaint, revealed that 24 Hr Locksmith had never held any account with the MPF trustee nor made any MPF contributions for its employees.HKMCI, Standard Chartered Bank and the MPF trustee concerned had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.The prosecution was today represented by Acting Senior Public Prosecutor Jason Lau, assisted by ICAC officer Kiki Chu.