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Feb 2025Seven months’ jail for site team leader of Third Runway Project charged by ICAC for accepting bribes of $160,000 from workersA then site team leaders of a sub-contractor of the Third Runway Project of the Hong Kong International Airport (Third Runway Project), charged by the ICAC, was today (February 26) sentenced at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts to seven months’ imprisonment for accepting bribes totalling about $160,000 from four carpenters for securing their employment.He Yuchuan, 57, then site team leader of MLife Engineering Limited (MEL), earlier this month pleaded guilty to six counts of agent accepting an advantage, contrary to section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance. He was also ordered to pay MEL a restitution of about $160,000, equivalent to the amount of bribes he received.In sentencing, Acting Principal Magistrate Mr Cheng Lim-chi reprimanded He for soliciting bribes from hard-working workers and lowering their hard-earned rewards. While workers acceded to He’s requests due to fear of losing their jobs, the amount of bribes involved in the present case was not insignificant. The court had to impose a custodial sentence on He.Chow Kwai-fai, 50, another then MEL site team leader charged by the ICAC in the case for allegedly accepting bribes of about $44,000 from a carpenter by blackmail, earlier pleaded not guilty to one count of bribery and one count of blackmail. His case was set for trial on March 26.At the material time, MEL was a sub-contractor of the Third Runway Project responsible for recruiting construction workers to conduct various works. The duo led two teams of carpenters to work at the project’s construction site and had the authority to assign work to workers. MEL did not allow any employees to solicit or accept any advantages from other employees for assisting the latter to secure their employment with the company.The court heard that between September 2020 and January 2022, He had demanded bribes ranging from $100 to $200 per working day from four carpenters under his supervision. The four workers paid bribes to He reluctantly as they believed that they would have been terminated if they did not accede to He’s solicitation. As a result, He accepted bribes totalling about $160,000 from the four workers.The Airport Authority Hong Kong, the relevant main contractor SAPR JV and MEL rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.The prosecution was today represented by ICAC officer Lawrence Wong. 26
Feb 2025Then director of duty-free chain store charged by ICAC guilty of conspiracy to defraud over $12m inflated prices red wine purchasesThe ICAC had earlier charged two then senior executives of a duty-free chain store, who had concealed their conflicting interest in companies set up by them, with conspiracy to defraud for purchasing and reselling bottled red wine sourced from a French supplier to the chain store for profit by inflating the prices by $12 million. Following the guilty plea of a then general manager implicated, a then director was today (February 26) convicted of the offence after trial at the District Court.Au Tsz-kei, 70, then merchandising and buying director of Sky Connection Limited (Sky Connection), was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to defraud, contrary to the Common Law. In convicting Au, Judge Mr Clement Lee Hing-nin reprimanded the defendant for committing the serious offence out of greed.Co-defendant Lau Shu-yin, 78, then general manager of Sky Connection, earlier pleaded guilty to the offence.The judge adjourned the case to March 13 for mitigation and sentence. The two defendants were granted bail. Hearing on the application for a confiscation order filed by the prosecution was adjourned to a date to be fixed.The present case arose from a corruption complaint received by the ICAC in mid-2019. At the material time, Sky Connection sold duty-free goods under the business name “Free Duty”. The merchandising and buying department, headed by Au, used to source bottled red wine from a winery in France directly for sale at “Free Duty” shops.The court heard that since August 2004, the two defendants had arranged Sky Connection to place purchase orders with the French winery via Jetfair Development Limited (Jetfair) and Master Good Trading Limited (Master Good). Between August 2004 and May 2011, Sky Connection had placed 56 purchase orders incurring payments totalling over $26 million through Jetfair and Master Good. ICAC enquiries revealed that Jetfair and Master Good had actually sourced the 56 batches of bottled red wine from the French winery at over $14 million and resold them to Sky Connection at inflated prices, causing Sky Connection to make extra payments of over $12 million.The ICAC investigation also revealed that Master Good and Jetfair were in fact funded by individuals including Au and Lau. Lau and his daughter were respectively the sole shareholder-cum-director of Master Good and Jetfair. Sky Connection required its staff to declare any conflict of interest and prohibited them from engaging in any business which might have a conflict with the company. But Au and Lau had never disclosed to Sky Connection their associations with Master Good and Jetfair.In addition, Au and Lau each shared part of the generated profits in the scam under an agreement. Lau had earlier admitted that he had received $2 million in total.Sky Connection rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.The prosecution was today represented by prosecuting counsel Alex Ng, assisted by ICAC officer May Lam. 24
Feb 2025Then-construction consultant of fast-food restaurant chain charged by ICAC with bribery for accepting watch worth of $80,000 from contractor coupleA then construction consultant of a fast-food restaurant chain was charged by the ICAC last Friday (February 21) for allegedly accepting a watch worth over $80,000 from contractor couple for showing favour to their renovation company. The trio were respectively charged with offering and accepting a bribe.Ling Mun-tong, 45, then construction consultant of MHK Restaurants Limited (MHK), faces one count of agent accepting an advantage, contrary to section 9(1)(b) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (POBO).Two co-defendants of the case, Chow Chi-kuen, 48, engineering manager of Wardson Deco-Construction Limited (Wardson), and his wife Chan Chin-yu, 30, Director-cum-shareholder of Wardson, jointly face one count of offering an advantage to an agent, contrary to section 9(2)(b) of the POBO.The trio were released on ICAC bail, pending their appearance at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts tomorrow (February 25) for plea.MHK operated over 200 fast food restaurants in Hong Kong under the brand name of McDonald’s. Its business development department was responsible for renovation projects of the restaurants. At the material time, Ling was a construction consultant of the department. He was responsible for conducting tender exercise, including inviting approved contractors to submit tenders, submitting tender analysis and making recommendations, as well as overseeing progress of the projects. Wardson was one of the approved contractors of MHK.It is alleged that on December 2, 2023, Ling had accepted a watch at the value of over $80,000 from the Chows as a reward for showing favour to Wardson in relation to the affairs of MHK. Meanwhile, the Chows had allegedly offered the watch to Ling for him to show favour.Between September 2021 and December 2023, Wardson was awarded 34 renovation projects and minor works of MHK and 14 variation orders in the total cover of over $18 million.MHK had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.Ling was also implicated in a bank mortgage loan fraud case. He was charged with one count of fraud, contrary to section 16A of the Theft Ordinance. The case was also scheduled for plea at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts tomorrow. 21
Feb 2025Three months’ jail for two site team leaders charged by ICAC for accepting bribes of $300,000 from Third Runway Project’s workersTwo then site team leaders of a sub-contractor of the Third Runway Project of the Hong Kong International Airport (Third Runway Project), charged by the ICAC in separate cases, were both sentenced to three months’ imprisonment today (February 21) at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts for accepting bribes totalling about $300,000 from over 30 workers over their employment, and perverting the course of public justice in the Commission’s investigation by instructing workers to falsely claimed that they had not paid bribes.The defendants were Liu Yin-man, 64, then leader of a team of riggers of MLife Engineering Limited (MEL); and Meng Zhijiang, 47, then leader of a team of carpenters of MEL.In sentencing, Magistrate Mr Peter Yu Chun-cheung highlighted the importance of the construction industry to Hong Kong, noting that the interests of even more workers would be affected by its “customary practice” if improper offerings of illegal rebates were not curbed. The magistrate took a starting point of six months’ imprisonment and reduced the jail terms of the defendants to three months after considering their guilty plea and assistance rendered to the prosecution by testifying against another site team leader implicated in the present case.The Magistrate also ordered Liu to pay a restitution of $15,500, equivalent to the amount of bribes he accepted, to his then employer – MEL.At the material time, MEL was a sub-contractor of the Third Runway Project responsible for recruiting construction workers to conduct various works. Upon the referral of another site team leader Tang Kwok-leung, Liu and Meng were employed by MEL as site team leaders to respectively lead a team of workers at the project’s construction site. The duo had the authority to assign work to workers. MEL did not allow any employees to solicit or accept any advantages from other employees for assisting the latter to secure their employment with the company.Liu earlier pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy for agents to accept advantages, contrary to section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (POBO) and section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance. On seven occasions between September 2020 and March 2021, Liu had collected bribes totalling about $230,000 from 29 riggers referred by him to join MEL on the instruction of Tang. Liu kept about $15,500 out of the bribes received and passed the remaining sum of over $210,000 to Tang according to their agreement.Meng earlier pleaded guilty to four charges – two of conspiracy for agents to accept advantages; one of conspiracy to offer advantages to an agent, contrary to section 9(2)(a) of the POBO and section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance; and one of conspiracy to do an act tending and intended to pervert the course of public justice, contrary to the Common Law and section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.Upon the instruction of Tang, Meng had collected bribes totalling over $66,000 from two carpenters in his team and passed the same to Tang between August 2020 and April 2021. Meng himself had also paid bribes of $100 to $200 per working day to Tang for about six months.The court heard that Tang was arrested by the ICAC in March 2021. During ICAC’s investigation, Tang and Liu conspired together to instruct workers to make false statements to ICAC officers that no bribes had been paid by them to Tang or Meng.The ICAC investigation revealed that the workers worried about losing their jobs and paid bribes to Tang, Liu or Meng reluctantly.The prosecution was today represented by ICAC officers Cody Chung and Cyrus Chan in the two cases.Tang, 50, was charged by the ICAC in a separate case. He admitted that he had accepted bribes totalling about $700,000 from about 80 workers, as well as his role in perverting the course of public justice. The case was adjourned to March 18 for sentence at the District Court.The Airport Authority Hong Kong, the main contractor of the Third Runway Project, SAPR JV, and MEL rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the cases. 12
Feb 2025Four charged by ICAC with $230,000 bribery over $25m renovation projects of two Japanese chain storesA then employee of a design consultancy and three others were charged by the ICAC today (February 12) for allegedly conspiring together for the employee to accept bribes of over $230,000 for assisting two works contractors to secure two renovation projects of Japanese chain stores involving project fees totalling over $25 million.The four defendants are Pian Pang Ka-shin, 41, then marketing executive of K&C Creation Limited (KCL); Li Po-wah, 34, director cum shareholder of RNK Design and Engineering Company Limited (RNK); Pang Wai-yin, 50, then site supervisor of RNK; and Yung Chor-chi, 46, operator of Flaming Engineering Company Limited (FEL).They jointly face 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. The case is set for plea at the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts tomorrow (February 13).KCL is 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 Macau.At the material time, Pang Ka-shin 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 RNK or Donki for selection. RNK and FEL were both works contractors respectively set up by Li in Hong Kong and Yung in Macau.The charge alleges that between June 2019 and January 2022, the four defendants had conspired together for Pang Ka-shin to accept bribes of over $230,000 from the three co-defendants for assisting the trio to secure the two renovation projects managed by KCL. Renovation fees of the two projects amounted to over $25 million in total.RNK and Donki rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.
Feb 2025Seven months’ jail for site team leader of Third Runway Project charged by ICAC for accepting bribes of $160,000 from workersA then site team leaders of a sub-contractor of the Third Runway Project of the Hong Kong International Airport (Third Runway Project), charged by the ICAC, was today (February 26) sentenced at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts to seven months’ imprisonment for accepting bribes totalling about $160,000 from four carpenters for securing their employment.He Yuchuan, 57, then site team leader of MLife Engineering Limited (MEL), earlier this month pleaded guilty to six counts of agent accepting an advantage, contrary to section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance. He was also ordered to pay MEL a restitution of about $160,000, equivalent to the amount of bribes he received.In sentencing, Acting Principal Magistrate Mr Cheng Lim-chi reprimanded He for soliciting bribes from hard-working workers and lowering their hard-earned rewards. While workers acceded to He’s requests due to fear of losing their jobs, the amount of bribes involved in the present case was not insignificant. The court had to impose a custodial sentence on He.Chow Kwai-fai, 50, another then MEL site team leader charged by the ICAC in the case for allegedly accepting bribes of about $44,000 from a carpenter by blackmail, earlier pleaded not guilty to one count of bribery and one count of blackmail. His case was set for trial on March 26.At the material time, MEL was a sub-contractor of the Third Runway Project responsible for recruiting construction workers to conduct various works. The duo led two teams of carpenters to work at the project’s construction site and had the authority to assign work to workers. MEL did not allow any employees to solicit or accept any advantages from other employees for assisting the latter to secure their employment with the company.The court heard that between September 2020 and January 2022, He had demanded bribes ranging from $100 to $200 per working day from four carpenters under his supervision. The four workers paid bribes to He reluctantly as they believed that they would have been terminated if they did not accede to He’s solicitation. As a result, He accepted bribes totalling about $160,000 from the four workers.The Airport Authority Hong Kong, the relevant main contractor SAPR JV and MEL rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.The prosecution was today represented by ICAC officer Lawrence Wong. 26
Feb 2025Then director of duty-free chain store charged by ICAC guilty of conspiracy to defraud over $12m inflated prices red wine purchasesThe ICAC had earlier charged two then senior executives of a duty-free chain store, who had concealed their conflicting interest in companies set up by them, with conspiracy to defraud for purchasing and reselling bottled red wine sourced from a French supplier to the chain store for profit by inflating the prices by $12 million. Following the guilty plea of a then general manager implicated, a then director was today (February 26) convicted of the offence after trial at the District Court.Au Tsz-kei, 70, then merchandising and buying director of Sky Connection Limited (Sky Connection), was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to defraud, contrary to the Common Law. In convicting Au, Judge Mr Clement Lee Hing-nin reprimanded the defendant for committing the serious offence out of greed.Co-defendant Lau Shu-yin, 78, then general manager of Sky Connection, earlier pleaded guilty to the offence.The judge adjourned the case to March 13 for mitigation and sentence. The two defendants were granted bail. Hearing on the application for a confiscation order filed by the prosecution was adjourned to a date to be fixed.The present case arose from a corruption complaint received by the ICAC in mid-2019. At the material time, Sky Connection sold duty-free goods under the business name “Free Duty”. The merchandising and buying department, headed by Au, used to source bottled red wine from a winery in France directly for sale at “Free Duty” shops.The court heard that since August 2004, the two defendants had arranged Sky Connection to place purchase orders with the French winery via Jetfair Development Limited (Jetfair) and Master Good Trading Limited (Master Good). Between August 2004 and May 2011, Sky Connection had placed 56 purchase orders incurring payments totalling over $26 million through Jetfair and Master Good. ICAC enquiries revealed that Jetfair and Master Good had actually sourced the 56 batches of bottled red wine from the French winery at over $14 million and resold them to Sky Connection at inflated prices, causing Sky Connection to make extra payments of over $12 million.The ICAC investigation also revealed that Master Good and Jetfair were in fact funded by individuals including Au and Lau. Lau and his daughter were respectively the sole shareholder-cum-director of Master Good and Jetfair. Sky Connection required its staff to declare any conflict of interest and prohibited them from engaging in any business which might have a conflict with the company. But Au and Lau had never disclosed to Sky Connection their associations with Master Good and Jetfair.In addition, Au and Lau each shared part of the generated profits in the scam under an agreement. Lau had earlier admitted that he had received $2 million in total.Sky Connection rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.The prosecution was today represented by prosecuting counsel Alex Ng, assisted by ICAC officer May Lam. 24
Feb 2025Then-construction consultant of fast-food restaurant chain charged by ICAC with bribery for accepting watch worth of $80,000 from contractor coupleA then construction consultant of a fast-food restaurant chain was charged by the ICAC last Friday (February 21) for allegedly accepting a watch worth over $80,000 from contractor couple for showing favour to their renovation company. The trio were respectively charged with offering and accepting a bribe.Ling Mun-tong, 45, then construction consultant of MHK Restaurants Limited (MHK), faces one count of agent accepting an advantage, contrary to section 9(1)(b) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (POBO).Two co-defendants of the case, Chow Chi-kuen, 48, engineering manager of Wardson Deco-Construction Limited (Wardson), and his wife Chan Chin-yu, 30, Director-cum-shareholder of Wardson, jointly face one count of offering an advantage to an agent, contrary to section 9(2)(b) of the POBO.The trio were released on ICAC bail, pending their appearance at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts tomorrow (February 25) for plea.MHK operated over 200 fast food restaurants in Hong Kong under the brand name of McDonald’s. Its business development department was responsible for renovation projects of the restaurants. At the material time, Ling was a construction consultant of the department. He was responsible for conducting tender exercise, including inviting approved contractors to submit tenders, submitting tender analysis and making recommendations, as well as overseeing progress of the projects. Wardson was one of the approved contractors of MHK.It is alleged that on December 2, 2023, Ling had accepted a watch at the value of over $80,000 from the Chows as a reward for showing favour to Wardson in relation to the affairs of MHK. Meanwhile, the Chows had allegedly offered the watch to Ling for him to show favour.Between September 2021 and December 2023, Wardson was awarded 34 renovation projects and minor works of MHK and 14 variation orders in the total cover of over $18 million.MHK had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.Ling was also implicated in a bank mortgage loan fraud case. He was charged with one count of fraud, contrary to section 16A of the Theft Ordinance. The case was also scheduled for plea at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts tomorrow. 21
Feb 2025Three months’ jail for two site team leaders charged by ICAC for accepting bribes of $300,000 from Third Runway Project’s workersTwo then site team leaders of a sub-contractor of the Third Runway Project of the Hong Kong International Airport (Third Runway Project), charged by the ICAC in separate cases, were both sentenced to three months’ imprisonment today (February 21) at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts for accepting bribes totalling about $300,000 from over 30 workers over their employment, and perverting the course of public justice in the Commission’s investigation by instructing workers to falsely claimed that they had not paid bribes.The defendants were Liu Yin-man, 64, then leader of a team of riggers of MLife Engineering Limited (MEL); and Meng Zhijiang, 47, then leader of a team of carpenters of MEL.In sentencing, Magistrate Mr Peter Yu Chun-cheung highlighted the importance of the construction industry to Hong Kong, noting that the interests of even more workers would be affected by its “customary practice” if improper offerings of illegal rebates were not curbed. The magistrate took a starting point of six months’ imprisonment and reduced the jail terms of the defendants to three months after considering their guilty plea and assistance rendered to the prosecution by testifying against another site team leader implicated in the present case.The Magistrate also ordered Liu to pay a restitution of $15,500, equivalent to the amount of bribes he accepted, to his then employer – MEL.At the material time, MEL was a sub-contractor of the Third Runway Project responsible for recruiting construction workers to conduct various works. Upon the referral of another site team leader Tang Kwok-leung, Liu and Meng were employed by MEL as site team leaders to respectively lead a team of workers at the project’s construction site. The duo had the authority to assign work to workers. MEL did not allow any employees to solicit or accept any advantages from other employees for assisting the latter to secure their employment with the company.Liu earlier pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy for agents to accept advantages, contrary to section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (POBO) and section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance. On seven occasions between September 2020 and March 2021, Liu had collected bribes totalling about $230,000 from 29 riggers referred by him to join MEL on the instruction of Tang. Liu kept about $15,500 out of the bribes received and passed the remaining sum of over $210,000 to Tang according to their agreement.Meng earlier pleaded guilty to four charges – two of conspiracy for agents to accept advantages; one of conspiracy to offer advantages to an agent, contrary to section 9(2)(a) of the POBO and section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance; and one of conspiracy to do an act tending and intended to pervert the course of public justice, contrary to the Common Law and section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.Upon the instruction of Tang, Meng had collected bribes totalling over $66,000 from two carpenters in his team and passed the same to Tang between August 2020 and April 2021. Meng himself had also paid bribes of $100 to $200 per working day to Tang for about six months.The court heard that Tang was arrested by the ICAC in March 2021. During ICAC’s investigation, Tang and Liu conspired together to instruct workers to make false statements to ICAC officers that no bribes had been paid by them to Tang or Meng.The ICAC investigation revealed that the workers worried about losing their jobs and paid bribes to Tang, Liu or Meng reluctantly.The prosecution was today represented by ICAC officers Cody Chung and Cyrus Chan in the two cases.Tang, 50, was charged by the ICAC in a separate case. He admitted that he had accepted bribes totalling about $700,000 from about 80 workers, as well as his role in perverting the course of public justice. The case was adjourned to March 18 for sentence at the District Court.The Airport Authority Hong Kong, the main contractor of the Third Runway Project, SAPR JV, and MEL rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the cases. 12
Feb 2025Four charged by ICAC with $230,000 bribery over $25m renovation projects of two Japanese chain storesA then employee of a design consultancy and three others were charged by the ICAC today (February 12) for allegedly conspiring together for the employee to accept bribes of over $230,000 for assisting two works contractors to secure two renovation projects of Japanese chain stores involving project fees totalling over $25 million.The four defendants are Pian Pang Ka-shin, 41, then marketing executive of K&C Creation Limited (KCL); Li Po-wah, 34, director cum shareholder of RNK Design and Engineering Company Limited (RNK); Pang Wai-yin, 50, then site supervisor of RNK; and Yung Chor-chi, 46, operator of Flaming Engineering Company Limited (FEL).They jointly face 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. The case is set for plea at the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts tomorrow (February 13).KCL is 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 Macau.At the material time, Pang Ka-shin 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 RNK or Donki for selection. RNK and FEL were both works contractors respectively set up by Li in Hong Kong and Yung in Macau.The charge alleges that between June 2019 and January 2022, the four defendants had conspired together for Pang Ka-shin to accept bribes of over $230,000 from the three co-defendants for assisting the trio to secure the two renovation projects managed by KCL. Renovation fees of the two projects amounted to over $25 million in total.RNK and Donki rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.