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A gift for a favour
As the Lunar New Year approached, Vincent, an experienced tour guide, expected many inbound tour groups would come and regarded this as a golden opportunity to earn tips from high-spending tourists. Determined to maximise his earnings, he sought every opportunity to guide more tours.
Vincent carefully selected expensive dried seafood as a Lunar New Year gift for Victor, his travel agent’s manager. He hoped Victor would give him preferential treatment and assign him to lead the high-spending customers when arranging tour groups so that he could earn more tips.
Recognising Vincent’s dedication and experience, Victor believed Vincent was the ideal person to guide these high-spending tours. Moreover, he considered gifting during festive occasions was a normal social etiquette, so he did not see any issue with accepting Vincent’s gift. However, Victor reminded Vincent that their conversation should be kept secret to avoid potential criticism.
Case Analysis
Dried seafood is an advantage under the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (POBO). If Victor, without obtaining the permission of his travel agent, accepted the gift from Vincent in exchange for preferential treatment in arranging the tour roster, Victor and Vincent might breach Section 9 of the POBO. Even if Victor believed that Vincent was capable of leading high-spending tour groups and that acceptance of gift from Vincent would not influence his decision regarding the tour roster, it is no defence for Victor to accept the advantage.
Additionally, according to Section 19 of the POBO, trade custom or practice does not constitute a defence for the offeror and the acceptor of an illegal advantage. Although the gift were given to Victor during a festive occasion, this was not a defence in court. The court would only consider whether Victor obtained approval from his employer.
As a manager, Victor should refrain from accepting advantages from subordinates to avoid any perception of bias and to ensure he can carry out his supervisory duties impartially.