Trio in court for alleged bribery over referral of loan applicants and fraud
2015-9-4
Three former employees of a licensed money lender appeared in the Kowloon City Magistracy today (Friday) after being charged by the ICAC with offering, accepting and soliciting illegal commissions amounting to about $50,000 in relation to referral of two loan applicants, and defrauding the money lender of wages.
The defendants, who were charged on Tuesday (September 1), were Koon Chung-lin, 57 and Chan Ying-chi, 32, both former senior supervisors of United Asia Finance Limited (UA Finance); and Tse Shuk-fan, 29, a former telesales executive of UA Finance.
Koon faced two counts of agent accepting an advantage, contrary to Section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (POBO).
Chan faced two counts of aiding and abetting an agent to solicit an advantage, contrary to Section 9(1)(a) of the POBO and Section 89 of the Criminal Procedure Ordinance, while Tse faced one count of offering an advantage to an agent, contrary to Section 9(2)(a) of the POBO. Chan and Tse further jointly faced one count of conspiracy to defraud, contrary to Common Law.
The defendants today pleaded not guilty to the charges. Principal Magistrate Peter Law Tak-chuen adjourned the case until November 6 this year for a pre-trial review.
At the material time, the defendants worked in the Mongkok office of the direct sales department of UA Finance, a licensed money lender in Hong Kong. Koon acted up as head of the Mongkok office supervising all divisions of the direct sales department, while Chan was responsible for managing the telesales division.
One of the charges alleged that on November 7, 2013, Koon accepted $4,000 from another telesales executive as a reward for referring a loan applicant to Tse and the telesales executive.
Another charge alleged that between January 6 and 10, 2014, Koon accepted around $17,000 from the telesales executive as a reward for referring another loan applicant to the telesales executive.
Chan faced one charge of having aided and abetted Koon to solicit from the telesales executive $4,000 between August 1 and November 7, 2013 as a reward for referring a loan applicant to Tse and the telesales executive.
The other charge alleged that between November 19, 2013 and January 6, 2014, Chan aided and abetted Koon to solicit from the telesales executive another sum of money consisting of 2% of the loan amount applied by another loan applicant as a reward for referring him to the telesales executive. The 2% of the loan amount was said to amount to $20,000.
Another charge alleged Tse of having offered $6,000 to Koon on November 8, 2013 as a reward for referring a loan applicant to Tse and the telesales executive.
The remaining charge alleged that between October and November 2013, Chan and Tse conspired together with the telesales executive to defraud UA Finance by falsely representing that Tse was on duty at the Mongkok office during the time as shown on the attendance records, thereby inducing UA Finance to pay Tse wages of over $8,300 as claimed.
Koon was granted cash bail of $10,000, while Chan and Tse were on cash bail of $5,000 each.
UA Finance had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation.
The prosecution was today represented by ICAC officer Joan Wong.
The defendants, who were charged on Tuesday (September 1), were Koon Chung-lin, 57 and Chan Ying-chi, 32, both former senior supervisors of United Asia Finance Limited (UA Finance); and Tse Shuk-fan, 29, a former telesales executive of UA Finance.
Koon faced two counts of agent accepting an advantage, contrary to Section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (POBO).
Chan faced two counts of aiding and abetting an agent to solicit an advantage, contrary to Section 9(1)(a) of the POBO and Section 89 of the Criminal Procedure Ordinance, while Tse faced one count of offering an advantage to an agent, contrary to Section 9(2)(a) of the POBO. Chan and Tse further jointly faced one count of conspiracy to defraud, contrary to Common Law.
The defendants today pleaded not guilty to the charges. Principal Magistrate Peter Law Tak-chuen adjourned the case until November 6 this year for a pre-trial review.
At the material time, the defendants worked in the Mongkok office of the direct sales department of UA Finance, a licensed money lender in Hong Kong. Koon acted up as head of the Mongkok office supervising all divisions of the direct sales department, while Chan was responsible for managing the telesales division.
One of the charges alleged that on November 7, 2013, Koon accepted $4,000 from another telesales executive as a reward for referring a loan applicant to Tse and the telesales executive.
Another charge alleged that between January 6 and 10, 2014, Koon accepted around $17,000 from the telesales executive as a reward for referring another loan applicant to the telesales executive.
Chan faced one charge of having aided and abetted Koon to solicit from the telesales executive $4,000 between August 1 and November 7, 2013 as a reward for referring a loan applicant to Tse and the telesales executive.
The other charge alleged that between November 19, 2013 and January 6, 2014, Chan aided and abetted Koon to solicit from the telesales executive another sum of money consisting of 2% of the loan amount applied by another loan applicant as a reward for referring him to the telesales executive. The 2% of the loan amount was said to amount to $20,000.
Another charge alleged Tse of having offered $6,000 to Koon on November 8, 2013 as a reward for referring a loan applicant to Tse and the telesales executive.
The remaining charge alleged that between October and November 2013, Chan and Tse conspired together with the telesales executive to defraud UA Finance by falsely representing that Tse was on duty at the Mongkok office during the time as shown on the attendance records, thereby inducing UA Finance to pay Tse wages of over $8,300 as claimed.
Koon was granted cash bail of $10,000, while Chan and Tse were on cash bail of $5,000 each.
UA Finance had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation.
The prosecution was today represented by ICAC officer Joan Wong.