Former chief chef jailed for taking illegal rebates
2000-2-16
A former chief chef of a restaurant was today (Wednesday) jailed for four months for accepting $72,000 in illegal rebates from a frozen food supplier.
Luk Kwok-ming, 46, former chief chef of Uptown Restaurant and Bar (Uptown) in Sheung Wan, earlier pleaded guilty to two counts of accepting advantages from Ngan Chi-wing, proprietor of Wing Hing Frozen Meat Company (Wing Hing), in return for placing purch ase orders with Wing Hing between November 1996 and August 1998.
He also admitted one count of conspiring with Ngan to dishonestly overstate the amount of purchases Uptown made from Wing Hing between October 1996 and August 1998.
The Western Court today also ordered Luk to pay $72,197 in restitution.
The court heard that Wing Hing had been a supplier of frozen food to Uptown. But in October 1996, the defendant stopped placing orders with the supplier.
The defendant later told Ngan that if he wanted continuous orders from Uptown, Ngan should pay him a monthly rebate, equivalent to 5 percent of the value of orders the restaurant placed with Wing Hing each month.
The defendant also asked Ngan to inflate the quantity of goods which Wing Hing supplied to Uptown in future invoices, and the overstated amount was to be paid to the defendant directly.
Ngan agreed to the deal. Since then, the defendant resumed placing substantial orders with Wing Hing.
In November 1996, the defendant accepted from Ngan $5,000 as rebates for the previous month.
Between December 1996 and August 1998, the defendant further accepted $67,197 from Ngan, while about $100,685, being the overstated amount in invoices between October 1996 and August 1998, was also paid to the defendant.
The prosecution was today represented by Acting Senior Government Counsel Jonathan Man, assisted by ICAC officer Kwei Wing-man.
Luk Kwok-ming, 46, former chief chef of Uptown Restaurant and Bar (Uptown) in Sheung Wan, earlier pleaded guilty to two counts of accepting advantages from Ngan Chi-wing, proprietor of Wing Hing Frozen Meat Company (Wing Hing), in return for placing purch ase orders with Wing Hing between November 1996 and August 1998.
He also admitted one count of conspiring with Ngan to dishonestly overstate the amount of purchases Uptown made from Wing Hing between October 1996 and August 1998.
The Western Court today also ordered Luk to pay $72,197 in restitution.
The court heard that Wing Hing had been a supplier of frozen food to Uptown. But in October 1996, the defendant stopped placing orders with the supplier.
The defendant later told Ngan that if he wanted continuous orders from Uptown, Ngan should pay him a monthly rebate, equivalent to 5 percent of the value of orders the restaurant placed with Wing Hing each month.
The defendant also asked Ngan to inflate the quantity of goods which Wing Hing supplied to Uptown in future invoices, and the overstated amount was to be paid to the defendant directly.
Ngan agreed to the deal. Since then, the defendant resumed placing substantial orders with Wing Hing.
In November 1996, the defendant accepted from Ngan $5,000 as rebates for the previous month.
Between December 1996 and August 1998, the defendant further accepted $67,197 from Ngan, while about $100,685, being the overstated amount in invoices between October 1996 and August 1998, was also paid to the defendant.
The prosecution was today represented by Acting Senior Government Counsel Jonathan Man, assisted by ICAC officer Kwei Wing-man.