Ex-clerk of stationery company charged by ICAC with $7.2m fraud using false quotations
2023-2-27
A former clerk of a stationery company was charged by the ICAC last Friday (February 24) for allegedly deceiving the company into purchasing raw materials at $7.2 million from a supplier by using false quotations to falsely represent that the supplier’s quotations were the lowest. The offence was revealed in the course of a corruption investigation by the Commission.
Au Yeung Yin-tung, 39, former shipping clerk of Creative Wealth International Limited (Creative Wealth), faces one count of fraud, contrary to Section 16A(1) of the Theft Ordinance.
The defendant was released on ICAC bail and would appear in the Shatin Magistrates’ Courts tomorrow (February 28) for mention, pending prosecution’s application for transferring the case to the District Court.
At the material time, the defendant was a shipping clerk of Creative Wealth, which was a stationery manufacturer. She was assigned to procure raw materials, including plastics pellets, for a factory of Creative Wealth. For each purchase, the defendant was required to obtain quotations from various suppliers and recommend which supplier to be selected.
It is alleged that between December 2015 and May 2018, the defendant falsely represented that the prices of plastic pellets offered by Golden Dragon Consultants Limited (Golden Dragon) were the lowest, and with intent to defraud, induced Creative Wealth to purchase plastic pellets from Golden Dragon. Upon her recommendation, Creative Wealth had placed a total of 34 purchase orders with Golden Dragon for plastics pellets at around $7.2 million.
The ICAC investigation arose from a corruption complaint. Enquiries revealed that some suppliers had never provided any quotation to the defendant. She allegedly purchased the plastic pellets concerned from other suppliers at lower prices, inflated the prices by $1.7 million in total and sold them to Creative Wealth through Golden Dragon, which was owned by the defendant’s husband. Part of the payments were transferred from the bank account of Golden Dragon to the defendant’s bank accounts.
Creative Wealth has rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.
Au Yeung Yin-tung, 39, former shipping clerk of Creative Wealth International Limited (Creative Wealth), faces one count of fraud, contrary to Section 16A(1) of the Theft Ordinance.
The defendant was released on ICAC bail and would appear in the Shatin Magistrates’ Courts tomorrow (February 28) for mention, pending prosecution’s application for transferring the case to the District Court.
At the material time, the defendant was a shipping clerk of Creative Wealth, which was a stationery manufacturer. She was assigned to procure raw materials, including plastics pellets, for a factory of Creative Wealth. For each purchase, the defendant was required to obtain quotations from various suppliers and recommend which supplier to be selected.
It is alleged that between December 2015 and May 2018, the defendant falsely represented that the prices of plastic pellets offered by Golden Dragon Consultants Limited (Golden Dragon) were the lowest, and with intent to defraud, induced Creative Wealth to purchase plastic pellets from Golden Dragon. Upon her recommendation, Creative Wealth had placed a total of 34 purchase orders with Golden Dragon for plastics pellets at around $7.2 million.
The ICAC investigation arose from a corruption complaint. Enquiries revealed that some suppliers had never provided any quotation to the defendant. She allegedly purchased the plastic pellets concerned from other suppliers at lower prices, inflated the prices by $1.7 million in total and sold them to Creative Wealth through Golden Dragon, which was owned by the defendant’s husband. Part of the payments were transferred from the bank account of Golden Dragon to the defendant’s bank accounts.
Creative Wealth has rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.