Company director and purchaser charged by ICAC admits offering and accepting $8.4m bribes
2022-10-20
A director of a garment accessories trading company and a former purchaser of a garment manufacturer, charged by the ICAC, today (October 20) admitted at the District Court that they had offered and accepted bribes totalling about $8.4 million in relation to purchase orders worth over $36 million placed by two garment manufacturers in seven years.
Ho Kwok-wing, 46, sole director-cum-shareholder of Po Yuen Hong Company Limited (Po Yuen Hong); and Lai Suk-fan, 54, senior purchaser of Parawin Industries Limited (Parawin), pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy for an agent to accept an advantage, contrary to Section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (POBO) and Section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.
Ho further admitted two counts of conspiracy to offer an advantage to an agent, contrary to Section 9(2)(a) of the POBO and Section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.
Deputy District Judge Winnie Lau adjourned the case to next Monday (October 24) for sentence. The duo were remanded in the custody of the Correctional Services Department.
The court heard that Po Yuen Hong and Parawin were respectively a garment accessories trading company and a nightclothes and swimwear manufacturer. After Ho came to know Lai in 2011, Po Yuen Hong started to receive limited orders from Parawin. In order to maintain a good relationship with Lai and to boost the number of orders from Parawin, Ho had offered numerous admission tickets of an amusement park to her.
In mid-2012, Ho and Lai agreed to offer and accept illegal rebates calculated at the weight of goods ordered by Parawin. Afterwards, purchase orders placed by Parawin increased significantly and Po Yuen Hong became its major supplier.
Between May 2014 and August 2019, Lai received from Ho illegal rebates amounted to over $710,000 which were calculated at a rate ranging from $1 to $2 per kilogramme of goods ordered by Parawin with Po Yuen Hong.
The court heard that Ho and the account clerk of Po Yuen Hong had also deployed a similar corrupt practice to obtain purchase orders of World Easy Garments (HK) Limited (World Easy), a manufacturer of denim clothing. In around February 2012, Ho agreed to offer illegal rebates calculated at 10 per cent of the order sum of purchase orders placed by World Easy to its purchasing clerk.
In addition, the purchasing clerk of World Easy had issued bogus purchase orders to Po Yuen Hong whilst the latter was not required to supply any stock. After receiving payments from World Easy, Po Yuen Hong would retain 20 per cent of the payments and paid the remaining sum to the purchasing clerk.
ICAC investigation revealed that between April 2014 and December 2019, illegal rebates of over $7.7 million were paid to the purchasing clerk of World Easy in relation to purchase orders worth totalling over $36 million.
Parawin and World Easy prohibited their staff from soliciting and accepting advantages from any person in relation to their businesses. The two companies had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case. The relevant corruption investigation is continuing, the ICAC does not rule out further law enforcement actions.
The above account clerk of Po Yuen Hong also charged for his role in the scam. He earlier pleaded not guilty and had his trial fixed for July next year.
The prosecution was today represented by Senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Winnie Ho, assisted by ICAC officer Gavin Lau.
The ICAC calls on members of the industrial and commercial sectors not to resort to bribery in securing businesses. Customs or trade practice is not a defence for offering and accepting illegal rebates.
Ho Kwok-wing, 46, sole director-cum-shareholder of Po Yuen Hong Company Limited (Po Yuen Hong); and Lai Suk-fan, 54, senior purchaser of Parawin Industries Limited (Parawin), pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy for an agent to accept an advantage, contrary to Section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (POBO) and Section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.
Ho further admitted two counts of conspiracy to offer an advantage to an agent, contrary to Section 9(2)(a) of the POBO and Section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.
Deputy District Judge Winnie Lau adjourned the case to next Monday (October 24) for sentence. The duo were remanded in the custody of the Correctional Services Department.
The court heard that Po Yuen Hong and Parawin were respectively a garment accessories trading company and a nightclothes and swimwear manufacturer. After Ho came to know Lai in 2011, Po Yuen Hong started to receive limited orders from Parawin. In order to maintain a good relationship with Lai and to boost the number of orders from Parawin, Ho had offered numerous admission tickets of an amusement park to her.
In mid-2012, Ho and Lai agreed to offer and accept illegal rebates calculated at the weight of goods ordered by Parawin. Afterwards, purchase orders placed by Parawin increased significantly and Po Yuen Hong became its major supplier.
Between May 2014 and August 2019, Lai received from Ho illegal rebates amounted to over $710,000 which were calculated at a rate ranging from $1 to $2 per kilogramme of goods ordered by Parawin with Po Yuen Hong.
The court heard that Ho and the account clerk of Po Yuen Hong had also deployed a similar corrupt practice to obtain purchase orders of World Easy Garments (HK) Limited (World Easy), a manufacturer of denim clothing. In around February 2012, Ho agreed to offer illegal rebates calculated at 10 per cent of the order sum of purchase orders placed by World Easy to its purchasing clerk.
In addition, the purchasing clerk of World Easy had issued bogus purchase orders to Po Yuen Hong whilst the latter was not required to supply any stock. After receiving payments from World Easy, Po Yuen Hong would retain 20 per cent of the payments and paid the remaining sum to the purchasing clerk.
ICAC investigation revealed that between April 2014 and December 2019, illegal rebates of over $7.7 million were paid to the purchasing clerk of World Easy in relation to purchase orders worth totalling over $36 million.
Parawin and World Easy prohibited their staff from soliciting and accepting advantages from any person in relation to their businesses. The two companies had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case. The relevant corruption investigation is continuing, the ICAC does not rule out further law enforcement actions.
The above account clerk of Po Yuen Hong also charged for his role in the scam. He earlier pleaded not guilty and had his trial fixed for July next year.
The prosecution was today represented by Senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Winnie Ho, assisted by ICAC officer Gavin Lau.
The ICAC calls on members of the industrial and commercial sectors not to resort to bribery in securing businesses. Customs or trade practice is not a defence for offering and accepting illegal rebates.