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Jul 2025Five individuals charged by ICAC admit beating facial recognition system for $250,000 wage fraud in commercial complex constructionTwo foremen and three workers of a contractor of a commercial complex construction project, charged by the ICAC, today (July 8) admitted at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts that they had falsified attendance records of workers by altering facial images registered with the facial recognition system at the construction site to defraud the contractor of wage payments totalling over $250,000.Tang Yu-ching, former assistant general foreman of Sunnic Engineering Limited (Sunnic), 44; Chan Tin-hon, former foreman of Sunnic, 43; and three construction workers, namely Chiu Kim-wan, Choi Yun and Mak Chi-kin, aged between 35 and 56, pleaded guilty to a total of six counts of fraud, contrary to section 16A (1) of the Theft Ordinance.Magistrate Mr Edward Wong Ching-yu adjourned the case to September 1 for mitigation and sentence, and granted the five defendants bail.The ICAC investigation stemmed from a corruption complaint. The court heard that in June 2021, Sunnic was engaged as the main contractor of the construction project of a commercial complex in Tsim Sha Tsui. Tang and Chan, respectively the assistant general foreman and foreman of Sunnic, were responsible for supervising the operation of the construction site of the project.Workers of the project were required to register their facial images with the facial recognition system for accessing the site. They were also required to scan their faces for taking attendance when reporting on and off duty. Based on the attendance records, Sunnic would calculate and release wage payments each month.The court heard that between December 2022 and January 2023, Tang had referred six construction workers, including Chiu, Choi and Mak, to work at the site as general workers. Facial images of the six workers were registered in the facial recognition system by Chan.The relevant attendance records showed that the six workers had respectively worked at the site for 36 days to 43 days, leading to Sunnic’s subsequent release of wage payments totalling over $250,000 to a subcontractor. But ICAC enquiries revealed that Tang had told the workers that they were not required to work at the site and the wage payments were eventually passed to Tang and Chan.The ICAC investigation revealed that Tang had arranged Chan to alter the facial images of the six workers registered with the facial recognition system by replacing them with Chan’s facial image so as to falsify the workers’ attendance records by scanning Chan’s face.No plea was taken by three co-defendants, namely Lai Yu-kiu, former site administration officer of Sunnic; and two construction workers See Kwok-shing and Johnny Chong Kam-hung, when they appeared at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts for mention today. Their case was adjourned to September 1 for mention.Sunnic rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.The prosecution was today represented by ICAC officer Ken Yip. 08
Jul 2025Ex-employee of insurer charged by ICAC guilty of soliciting bribe from broker firm director over motor insurance of 600 new taxisA former employee of an insurance company, charged by the ICAC, was today (July 8) convicted at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts of soliciting a bribe from a director of a broker firm for assisting a client to take out motor insurance policies for 600 new taxis, involving premiums totalling over $24 million.Wong Ka-wing, 39, former team head of Bank of China Group Insurance Company Limited (BOCGI), was found guilty after trial of one count of agent soliciting an advantage, contrary to section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance.Magistrate Mr Kestrel Lam Tsz-hong adjourned the case to July 18 for sentence, pending the defendant’s background report, and remanded him in the custody of the Correctional Services Department.The offence in the present case took place between November 2022 and January 2023. At that time, the defendant was the team head of the brokers and agency business marketing department of BOCGI, which was responsible for liaising with broker firms, including Pro Insurance & Financial Management Limited (Pro Insurance), for selling insurance products such as motor insurance.Pro Insurance would arrange its clients to take out motor insurance policies from BOCGI for new taxis, and receive 5 per cent of the yearly premium of each policy from BOCGI as commission.In mid-2022, a client of Pro Insurance planned to take out vehicle insurance policies for over 600 new taxis. During the negotiation with BOCGI, a director of Pro Insurance proposed to lower the annual premium per vehicle from $45,500 to $40,000, or to increase the commission payable to Pro Insurance to 7.5 per cent.The court heard that the defendant subsequently told the director of Pro Insurance that he would assist Pro Insurance to secure BOCGI’s approval of the insurance policy agreement, and repeatedly solicited from the latter a bribe, ranging from 1 to 3 per cent of the total yearly insurance premiums of the agreement.The director of Pro Insurance rejected corruption and did not accede to the defendant’s solicitation. If the bribery scheme had materialised, the total yearly premiums for over 600 new taxis, each paying $40,000 per year, would have been over $24 million. Meanwhile, the bribe concerned would have amounted to over $240,000.BOCGI rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.The prosecution was today represented by prosecuting counsel Anita Ma, assisted by ICAC officer Betty Wong. 07
Jul 2025Consultancy employee charged by ICAC admits accepting bribes over $25m renovation projects of two Japanese chain storesAn employee of a design consultancy, charged by the ICAC, today (July 7) admitted at the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts that she had accepted bribes of over $230,000 for assisting two works contractors to secure two renovation projects of two Japanese chain stores involving project fees totalling over $25 million.Pian Pang Ka-shin, 41, then marketing executive of K&C Creation Limited (KCL), pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy for an agent to accept an advantage, contrary to sections 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.Magistrate Mr Philip Chan Chee-fai adjourned the case to July 21 for sentence, pending the defendant’s background report, and granted her bail.The court heard that KCL was a design consultancy. In 2019, it was awarded two renovation projects respectively concerning a branch of drugstore chain “Tokyo Lifestyle” in Kowloon and the store of supermarket chain “Donki Japan” in Macao.At the material time, Pang was a marketing executive of KCL responsible for co-ordinating contractors and arranging tender exercises. For the two renovation projects concerned, she was responsible for submitting quotations and tenders to KCL or Donki for selection.Pang admitted that between June 2019 and January 2022, she had accepted bribes of over $230,000 from three representatives from two works contractors, namely RNK Design and Engineering Company Limited (RNK) and Flaming Engineering Company Limited (FEL), for assisting the trio to secure the renovation projects of “Tokyo Lifestyle” and Donki.KCL received two quotations from renovation companies in relation to the renovation project of “Tokyo Lifestyle”. KCL awarded relevant works to RNK base on the recommendation of Pang and paid project fee of $1.7 million to RNK after completion of the works.Also being assigned by KCL to assist Donki in arranging a tender exercise, Pang submitted five tenders for Donki’s selection. Donki eventually awarded the project to FEL and settled project fees totalling over $23.4 million with FEL after the project was completed. Pang admitted that she had given advice to the FEL representative on the relevant tender interview.RNK and Donki rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.Three co-defendants in the present case, namely Li Po-wa, director cum shareholder of RNK, Pang Wai-yin, former site supervisor of RNK, Yung Chor-chi, operator of FEL, today pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy for an agent to accept an advantage at the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts. Their case was scheduled for a pre-trial review on November 27.The prosecution was today represented by ICAC officer Hayden Lau. 04
Jul 2025Couple charged by ICAC guilty of $9.6m private residential project subcontractor worker wage fraudA couple from a subcontractor of a construction project in Mid-Levels, charged by the ICAC, were today (July 4) convicted at the District Court of fraud for swindling the project contractor out of almost $9.6 million by falsifying and overstating the wages of workers.The defendants, Hon Sang, 53, company secretary of Honsang Company Limited (Honsang); and his wife Ada Law Yin-nei, 48, sole director-cum-shareholder of Honsang, were convicted after trial of two counts of fraud, contrary to section 16A of the Theft Ordinance.Deputy Judge Miss Veronica Heung Shuk-han adjourned the case to July 18 for mitigation, pending background reports of the two defendants. Hon was remanded in the custody of the Correctional Services Department while Law was granted bail.The ICAC investigation arose from a corruption complaint in connection with wage release to workers by Honsang. At the material time, Honsang was a subcontractor of aluminium and glass related works of a private residential construction project on Borrett Road in Mid-Levels. Honsang was required to submit wage payments related documents, including copies of cheques issued to workers and the relevant receipts, to a contractor of the project – CR Construction Company Limited (CR Construction) – for reimbursing expenses on an accountable basis.The court heard that between September 2018 and April 2019, CR Construction received from Honsang photocopies of over 1,200 cheques and relevant receipts, purporting that wages totalling about $30 million were paid to workers. CR Construction consequently settled the whole sum of payment with Honsang.The ICAC investigation revealed that the payees and the payable amounts in 43 of the cheques, involving a sum of around $9.3 million, were falsified and deposited into bank accounts of the Hon couple and other individuals.Since Honsang had failed to pay wages to workers on time, CR Construction subsequently made direct payments to workers. Between May and August 2019, the Hon couple had overstated the wages of over 10 workers, causing CR Construction to overpay those workers by almost $300,000. They had also instructed workers to return the wages overpaid by CR Construction to Honsang.CR Construction rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.The prosecution was today represented by prosecuting counsel Susanna Ku, assisted by ICAC officer Andy Yip. 03
Jul 2025Team leader of subcontractor of North District Community Health Centre among trio charged by ICAC for accepting $300,000 bribes from workersA team leader and two workers of an air-conditioning subcontractor of a government development project of North District Community Health Centre were charged by the ICAC today (July 3) for allegedly accepting bribes totalling over $300,000 from workers referred by them.Yung Sung-kwan, 62, former team leader of Datatech Enterprises Limited (Datatech); and two former workers of Datatech, Ho Hon-kei and Tse Shu-hong, respectively 54 and 65, face three counts of conspiracy for an agent to accept an advantage in total, contrary to section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (POBO) and section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.Yung also faces two counts of agent accepting an advantage, contrary to section 9(1)(a) of POBO.The trio were released on ICAC bail, pending their appearance at the Fanling Magistrates’ Courts next Monday (July 7) for plea.At the material time, i.e. between December 2022 and February 2024, Datatech was a subcontractor responsible for air-conditioning and refrigeration system installation of the development project of North District Community Health Centre cum Social Welfare Facilities of the Hospital Authority (HA). Yung, a site team leader employed by Datatech, was responsible for supervising and recruiting workers for the site. As stipulated in the employment contract, the daily wage of a worker was $2,000. Datatech prohibited its staff to solicit or accept advantages from others in relation to its business.Three of the charges allege that Yung had conspired with Ho and Tse respectively to accept bribes ranging from $600 to $1,000 per working day from five workers. Ho was one of the workers paying bribes to Yung.Two remaining charges allege that Yung had accepted bribes of $1,800 and $8,500 from two other workers.The ICAC investigation arose from a corruption complaint. Enquiries revealed that three defendants had allegedly accepted bribes totalling over $300,000 from seven workers for assisting them to secure their employment with Datatech. Some of the workers paid bribes for fear of losing their jobs.HA and Datatech rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.
Jul 2025Five individuals charged by ICAC admit beating facial recognition system for $250,000 wage fraud in commercial complex constructionTwo foremen and three workers of a contractor of a commercial complex construction project, charged by the ICAC, today (July 8) admitted at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts that they had falsified attendance records of workers by altering facial images registered with the facial recognition system at the construction site to defraud the contractor of wage payments totalling over $250,000.Tang Yu-ching, former assistant general foreman of Sunnic Engineering Limited (Sunnic), 44; Chan Tin-hon, former foreman of Sunnic, 43; and three construction workers, namely Chiu Kim-wan, Choi Yun and Mak Chi-kin, aged between 35 and 56, pleaded guilty to a total of six counts of fraud, contrary to section 16A (1) of the Theft Ordinance.Magistrate Mr Edward Wong Ching-yu adjourned the case to September 1 for mitigation and sentence, and granted the five defendants bail.The ICAC investigation stemmed from a corruption complaint. The court heard that in June 2021, Sunnic was engaged as the main contractor of the construction project of a commercial complex in Tsim Sha Tsui. Tang and Chan, respectively the assistant general foreman and foreman of Sunnic, were responsible for supervising the operation of the construction site of the project.Workers of the project were required to register their facial images with the facial recognition system for accessing the site. They were also required to scan their faces for taking attendance when reporting on and off duty. Based on the attendance records, Sunnic would calculate and release wage payments each month.The court heard that between December 2022 and January 2023, Tang had referred six construction workers, including Chiu, Choi and Mak, to work at the site as general workers. Facial images of the six workers were registered in the facial recognition system by Chan.The relevant attendance records showed that the six workers had respectively worked at the site for 36 days to 43 days, leading to Sunnic’s subsequent release of wage payments totalling over $250,000 to a subcontractor. But ICAC enquiries revealed that Tang had told the workers that they were not required to work at the site and the wage payments were eventually passed to Tang and Chan.The ICAC investigation revealed that Tang had arranged Chan to alter the facial images of the six workers registered with the facial recognition system by replacing them with Chan’s facial image so as to falsify the workers’ attendance records by scanning Chan’s face.No plea was taken by three co-defendants, namely Lai Yu-kiu, former site administration officer of Sunnic; and two construction workers See Kwok-shing and Johnny Chong Kam-hung, when they appeared at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts for mention today. Their case was adjourned to September 1 for mention.Sunnic rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.The prosecution was today represented by ICAC officer Ken Yip. 08
Jul 2025Ex-employee of insurer charged by ICAC guilty of soliciting bribe from broker firm director over motor insurance of 600 new taxisA former employee of an insurance company, charged by the ICAC, was today (July 8) convicted at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts of soliciting a bribe from a director of a broker firm for assisting a client to take out motor insurance policies for 600 new taxis, involving premiums totalling over $24 million.Wong Ka-wing, 39, former team head of Bank of China Group Insurance Company Limited (BOCGI), was found guilty after trial of one count of agent soliciting an advantage, contrary to section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance.Magistrate Mr Kestrel Lam Tsz-hong adjourned the case to July 18 for sentence, pending the defendant’s background report, and remanded him in the custody of the Correctional Services Department.The offence in the present case took place between November 2022 and January 2023. At that time, the defendant was the team head of the brokers and agency business marketing department of BOCGI, which was responsible for liaising with broker firms, including Pro Insurance & Financial Management Limited (Pro Insurance), for selling insurance products such as motor insurance.Pro Insurance would arrange its clients to take out motor insurance policies from BOCGI for new taxis, and receive 5 per cent of the yearly premium of each policy from BOCGI as commission.In mid-2022, a client of Pro Insurance planned to take out vehicle insurance policies for over 600 new taxis. During the negotiation with BOCGI, a director of Pro Insurance proposed to lower the annual premium per vehicle from $45,500 to $40,000, or to increase the commission payable to Pro Insurance to 7.5 per cent.The court heard that the defendant subsequently told the director of Pro Insurance that he would assist Pro Insurance to secure BOCGI’s approval of the insurance policy agreement, and repeatedly solicited from the latter a bribe, ranging from 1 to 3 per cent of the total yearly insurance premiums of the agreement.The director of Pro Insurance rejected corruption and did not accede to the defendant’s solicitation. If the bribery scheme had materialised, the total yearly premiums for over 600 new taxis, each paying $40,000 per year, would have been over $24 million. Meanwhile, the bribe concerned would have amounted to over $240,000.BOCGI rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.The prosecution was today represented by prosecuting counsel Anita Ma, assisted by ICAC officer Betty Wong. 07
Jul 2025Consultancy employee charged by ICAC admits accepting bribes over $25m renovation projects of two Japanese chain storesAn employee of a design consultancy, charged by the ICAC, today (July 7) admitted at the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts that she had accepted bribes of over $230,000 for assisting two works contractors to secure two renovation projects of two Japanese chain stores involving project fees totalling over $25 million.Pian Pang Ka-shin, 41, then marketing executive of K&C Creation Limited (KCL), pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy for an agent to accept an advantage, contrary to sections 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.Magistrate Mr Philip Chan Chee-fai adjourned the case to July 21 for sentence, pending the defendant’s background report, and granted her bail.The court heard that KCL was a design consultancy. In 2019, it was awarded two renovation projects respectively concerning a branch of drugstore chain “Tokyo Lifestyle” in Kowloon and the store of supermarket chain “Donki Japan” in Macao.At the material time, Pang was a marketing executive of KCL responsible for co-ordinating contractors and arranging tender exercises. For the two renovation projects concerned, she was responsible for submitting quotations and tenders to KCL or Donki for selection.Pang admitted that between June 2019 and January 2022, she had accepted bribes of over $230,000 from three representatives from two works contractors, namely RNK Design and Engineering Company Limited (RNK) and Flaming Engineering Company Limited (FEL), for assisting the trio to secure the renovation projects of “Tokyo Lifestyle” and Donki.KCL received two quotations from renovation companies in relation to the renovation project of “Tokyo Lifestyle”. KCL awarded relevant works to RNK base on the recommendation of Pang and paid project fee of $1.7 million to RNK after completion of the works.Also being assigned by KCL to assist Donki in arranging a tender exercise, Pang submitted five tenders for Donki’s selection. Donki eventually awarded the project to FEL and settled project fees totalling over $23.4 million with FEL after the project was completed. Pang admitted that she had given advice to the FEL representative on the relevant tender interview.RNK and Donki rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.Three co-defendants in the present case, namely Li Po-wa, director cum shareholder of RNK, Pang Wai-yin, former site supervisor of RNK, Yung Chor-chi, operator of FEL, today pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy for an agent to accept an advantage at the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts. Their case was scheduled for a pre-trial review on November 27.The prosecution was today represented by ICAC officer Hayden Lau. 04
Jul 2025Couple charged by ICAC guilty of $9.6m private residential project subcontractor worker wage fraudA couple from a subcontractor of a construction project in Mid-Levels, charged by the ICAC, were today (July 4) convicted at the District Court of fraud for swindling the project contractor out of almost $9.6 million by falsifying and overstating the wages of workers.The defendants, Hon Sang, 53, company secretary of Honsang Company Limited (Honsang); and his wife Ada Law Yin-nei, 48, sole director-cum-shareholder of Honsang, were convicted after trial of two counts of fraud, contrary to section 16A of the Theft Ordinance.Deputy Judge Miss Veronica Heung Shuk-han adjourned the case to July 18 for mitigation, pending background reports of the two defendants. Hon was remanded in the custody of the Correctional Services Department while Law was granted bail.The ICAC investigation arose from a corruption complaint in connection with wage release to workers by Honsang. At the material time, Honsang was a subcontractor of aluminium and glass related works of a private residential construction project on Borrett Road in Mid-Levels. Honsang was required to submit wage payments related documents, including copies of cheques issued to workers and the relevant receipts, to a contractor of the project – CR Construction Company Limited (CR Construction) – for reimbursing expenses on an accountable basis.The court heard that between September 2018 and April 2019, CR Construction received from Honsang photocopies of over 1,200 cheques and relevant receipts, purporting that wages totalling about $30 million were paid to workers. CR Construction consequently settled the whole sum of payment with Honsang.The ICAC investigation revealed that the payees and the payable amounts in 43 of the cheques, involving a sum of around $9.3 million, were falsified and deposited into bank accounts of the Hon couple and other individuals.Since Honsang had failed to pay wages to workers on time, CR Construction subsequently made direct payments to workers. Between May and August 2019, the Hon couple had overstated the wages of over 10 workers, causing CR Construction to overpay those workers by almost $300,000. They had also instructed workers to return the wages overpaid by CR Construction to Honsang.CR Construction rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.The prosecution was today represented by prosecuting counsel Susanna Ku, assisted by ICAC officer Andy Yip. 03
Jul 2025Team leader of subcontractor of North District Community Health Centre among trio charged by ICAC for accepting $300,000 bribes from workersA team leader and two workers of an air-conditioning subcontractor of a government development project of North District Community Health Centre were charged by the ICAC today (July 3) for allegedly accepting bribes totalling over $300,000 from workers referred by them.Yung Sung-kwan, 62, former team leader of Datatech Enterprises Limited (Datatech); and two former workers of Datatech, Ho Hon-kei and Tse Shu-hong, respectively 54 and 65, face three counts of conspiracy for an agent to accept an advantage in total, contrary to section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (POBO) and section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.Yung also faces two counts of agent accepting an advantage, contrary to section 9(1)(a) of POBO.The trio were released on ICAC bail, pending their appearance at the Fanling Magistrates’ Courts next Monday (July 7) for plea.At the material time, i.e. between December 2022 and February 2024, Datatech was a subcontractor responsible for air-conditioning and refrigeration system installation of the development project of North District Community Health Centre cum Social Welfare Facilities of the Hospital Authority (HA). Yung, a site team leader employed by Datatech, was responsible for supervising and recruiting workers for the site. As stipulated in the employment contract, the daily wage of a worker was $2,000. Datatech prohibited its staff to solicit or accept advantages from others in relation to its business.Three of the charges allege that Yung had conspired with Ho and Tse respectively to accept bribes ranging from $600 to $1,000 per working day from five workers. Ho was one of the workers paying bribes to Yung.Two remaining charges allege that Yung had accepted bribes of $1,800 and $8,500 from two other workers.The ICAC investigation arose from a corruption complaint. Enquiries revealed that three defendants had allegedly accepted bribes totalling over $300,000 from seven workers for assisting them to secure their employment with Datatech. Some of the workers paid bribes for fear of losing their jobs.HA and Datatech rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.