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Case Studies
Storing up trouble
Ivan and Ian were employees at a department store. Ivan worked as a merchandiser while Ian, the warehouse supervisor, verified the goods received and conducted regular stock takes.
They were well acquainted with most suppliers, particularly Mr. Wong and Mr. Au. On weekends, Ivan and Ian enjoyed mahjong with their suppliers. Although they were not good at the game, they often won a lot.
During a mahjong game, Ivan shared his concerns about the heavy financial burden of supporting his daughter, who was studying abroad. At the same time, Ian expressed his struggles with negative equity on his assets. Seizing the opportunity to ‘help’ Ivan and Ian while making extra money for themselves, Wong and Au proposed a scam to defraud the department store. They suggested Ivan overstating the quantity of toiletries purchased from them, and Ian stamping the official receipt on the invoices purporting that the received quantities were accurate. As a reward, Wong and Au promised to pay each of them a monthly commission of $10,000.
Case Analysis
It would be an offence under Section 9 of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (POBO) for Ivan and Ian, who were employees of the department store, to accept the advantage, i.e., the monthly commission of $10,000, offered by Wong and Au for assisting the latter in overstating the quantity of toiletries without the permission of their employer. Wong and Au might also commit an offence by offering bribes. Furthermore, by overstating the purchase orders and acknowledging the false receipt, both Ivan and Ian might breach Section 9(3) of the POBO, which forbids employees from using documents containing false, erroneous or defective information to deceive their employer. They might also commit an offence of conspiracy to defraud.
Ivan and Ian should adhere to their company’s code of conduct on handling persons having business dealings with the company and avoid gambling with suppliers. While Ivan and Ian might seem very lucky to win a lot during mahjong games with Wong and Au, frequently gambling together and winning excessive amount might portray the perception that Wong and Au were losing to them deliberately so as to pass benefits to Ivan and Ian in return for favour at work.