One more from taxi association admits role in ITFC vote buying and rigging scheme
2021-6-1
A then vice secretary of a taxi association, charged by the ICAC, today (June 1) admitted at the District Court that he had arranged membership payments for several hundred persons to register as members of a professional organisation with false qualifications in relation to a vote rigging and buying scheme for the Information Technology Functional Constituency (ITFC) of the 2016 Legislative Council (LegCo) General Election, following the guilty plea of six co-defendants.
Yeung Yiu-hung, 35, vice secretary of the Taxi Drivers & Operators Association (TDOA), pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud, contrary to Common Law.
Judge Katherine Lo Kit-yee adjourned the case to August 26 for mitigation and granted the defendant cash bail.
The court heard that the 2016 LegCo General Election was held on September 4, 2016. Two candidates competed in the ITFC—one of the 29 functional constituencies in the LegCo.
A person, who was registered as an elector in a Geographical Constituency or was eligible and had applied to be so registered, was eligible to register as an elector in the ITFC with the Registration and Electoral Office (REO) if the person possessed the membership of a professional body specified in the LegCo Ordinance, including the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., Hong Kong Section (IEEE).
Yeung Yiu-hung admitted that in about April 2016, he explored ways for TDOA members to vote in a Functional Constituency upon the invitation of then TDOA corporate affairs director Li Wai-man, and found that he could register as an elector of the ITFC after registering as an IEEE member.
Between April and May 2016, Yeung Yiu-hung had lent his credit cards to then TDOA clerk Poon Sau-fong to pay for the IEEE membership fees of several hundred persons, totalling about US$32,000 (about HK$250,000), so as to facilitate their registration as ITFC electors.
The court heard that those membership fees were settled by Li, mostly through cash deposited into Yeung Yiu-hung’s bank account at automatic teller machines.
On April 7, 2016, Li sent a blank voter registration form to Poon via mobile phone message. About a week later, with Li’s knowledge, then executive committee member of TDOA Lui Ah-fook invited his younger sisters Lui Wai-fong, Lui Lai-fong and Lui Lai-mui via a mobile phone sibling chat group to join an “IT Club” for $1,000 each. Lui Ah-fook added that the trio were required to register as voters and vote as instructed in the ITFC of the 2016 LegCo General Election (the scheme).
As soon as Lui Wai-fong learned of the scheme, she extended invitation to her relatives, including her brother-in-law Chan Ki-nam, via another mobile phone family chat group. Lui Ah-fook’s son Lui King-yin also mentioned the scheme at two mobile phone chat groups with his schoolmates and associates.
After Lui Ah-fook, Lui Wai-fong and Lui King-yin gathered the personal particulars of 36 persons, Lui Ah-fook forwarded the consolidated information to Li on April 24, 2016.
In mid-April 2016, Li started to send personal particulars of a number of persons to Poon for IEEE membership registration. Between April 12 and May 1, 2016, about 240 persons, including Li, Yeung Yiu-hung, Poon, TDOA then financial director Wong Suen-lai and the aforesaid 36 persons associated with the Luis, were registered as full members of the IEEE with false information about their professional qualification, education and/or experience.
Between April 30 and May 2, 2016, the REO received the voter registration forms of 124 persons, all carrying the same typo misspelling “Engineers” in the full name of IEEE as “Enginess”. Based on their IEEE memberships, 118 of them were included in the 2016 Final Register of Electors of the ITFC.
Before the polling day, Li sent a message to Yeung Yiu-hung, Lui Ah-fook and Lui Wai-fong via a mobile phone chat group called “IE Group”, urging them to vote for Yeung Chuen-sing, a candidate competing in the ITFC at the 2016 LegCo General Election. On the polling day, Lui Wai-fong and Lui King-yin made the same appeal to participants in several mobile phone chat groups.
The court heard that 19 out of the aforesaid 36 persons associated with the Luis had applied for ballot papers, including those for the ITFC, at their respective polling stations. Yeung’s rival was elected in the ITFC at the 2016 LegCo General Election.
Six co-defendants, Li, Poon, Lui Ah-fook, Lui Wai-fong, Lui King-yin and Chan Ki-nam, who earlier admitted their roles in the scheme, will also appear in court on August 26 for mitigation. Three other defendants, Wong, Lui Lai-fong and Lui Lai-mui, had their charges left on file at the District Court.
The REO had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.
The prosecution was today represented by Senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions David Chan, prosecuting counsel Newman Wong and Arthur Wong, and Public Prosecutor Dimitri Au-Yeung, assisted by ICAC officer Joseph Leung.
Yeung Yiu-hung, 35, vice secretary of the Taxi Drivers & Operators Association (TDOA), pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud, contrary to Common Law.
Judge Katherine Lo Kit-yee adjourned the case to August 26 for mitigation and granted the defendant cash bail.
The court heard that the 2016 LegCo General Election was held on September 4, 2016. Two candidates competed in the ITFC—one of the 29 functional constituencies in the LegCo.
A person, who was registered as an elector in a Geographical Constituency or was eligible and had applied to be so registered, was eligible to register as an elector in the ITFC with the Registration and Electoral Office (REO) if the person possessed the membership of a professional body specified in the LegCo Ordinance, including the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., Hong Kong Section (IEEE).
Yeung Yiu-hung admitted that in about April 2016, he explored ways for TDOA members to vote in a Functional Constituency upon the invitation of then TDOA corporate affairs director Li Wai-man, and found that he could register as an elector of the ITFC after registering as an IEEE member.
Between April and May 2016, Yeung Yiu-hung had lent his credit cards to then TDOA clerk Poon Sau-fong to pay for the IEEE membership fees of several hundred persons, totalling about US$32,000 (about HK$250,000), so as to facilitate their registration as ITFC electors.
The court heard that those membership fees were settled by Li, mostly through cash deposited into Yeung Yiu-hung’s bank account at automatic teller machines.
On April 7, 2016, Li sent a blank voter registration form to Poon via mobile phone message. About a week later, with Li’s knowledge, then executive committee member of TDOA Lui Ah-fook invited his younger sisters Lui Wai-fong, Lui Lai-fong and Lui Lai-mui via a mobile phone sibling chat group to join an “IT Club” for $1,000 each. Lui Ah-fook added that the trio were required to register as voters and vote as instructed in the ITFC of the 2016 LegCo General Election (the scheme).
As soon as Lui Wai-fong learned of the scheme, she extended invitation to her relatives, including her brother-in-law Chan Ki-nam, via another mobile phone family chat group. Lui Ah-fook’s son Lui King-yin also mentioned the scheme at two mobile phone chat groups with his schoolmates and associates.
After Lui Ah-fook, Lui Wai-fong and Lui King-yin gathered the personal particulars of 36 persons, Lui Ah-fook forwarded the consolidated information to Li on April 24, 2016.
In mid-April 2016, Li started to send personal particulars of a number of persons to Poon for IEEE membership registration. Between April 12 and May 1, 2016, about 240 persons, including Li, Yeung Yiu-hung, Poon, TDOA then financial director Wong Suen-lai and the aforesaid 36 persons associated with the Luis, were registered as full members of the IEEE with false information about their professional qualification, education and/or experience.
Between April 30 and May 2, 2016, the REO received the voter registration forms of 124 persons, all carrying the same typo misspelling “Engineers” in the full name of IEEE as “Enginess”. Based on their IEEE memberships, 118 of them were included in the 2016 Final Register of Electors of the ITFC.
Before the polling day, Li sent a message to Yeung Yiu-hung, Lui Ah-fook and Lui Wai-fong via a mobile phone chat group called “IE Group”, urging them to vote for Yeung Chuen-sing, a candidate competing in the ITFC at the 2016 LegCo General Election. On the polling day, Lui Wai-fong and Lui King-yin made the same appeal to participants in several mobile phone chat groups.
The court heard that 19 out of the aforesaid 36 persons associated with the Luis had applied for ballot papers, including those for the ITFC, at their respective polling stations. Yeung’s rival was elected in the ITFC at the 2016 LegCo General Election.
Six co-defendants, Li, Poon, Lui Ah-fook, Lui Wai-fong, Lui King-yin and Chan Ki-nam, who earlier admitted their roles in the scheme, will also appear in court on August 26 for mitigation. Three other defendants, Wong, Lui Lai-fong and Lui Lai-mui, had their charges left on file at the District Court.
The REO had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.
The prosecution was today represented by Senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions David Chan, prosecuting counsel Newman Wong and Arthur Wong, and Public Prosecutor Dimitri Au-Yeung, assisted by ICAC officer Joseph Leung.