Airline catering staff arrested for taking bribes to steal foreign newspapers
2000-4-2
The ICAC has arrested five employees of Cathay Pacific Catering Services (Hong Kong) Limited suspected of receiving monetary advantages for stealing foreign newspapers from incoming flights of Cathay Pacific Airways Limited for sale to local newspaper stalls.
The retail value of the newspapers stolen, including The Australian , The New Zealand Herald and The Sydney Morning Herald, The Times and Bangkok Post, is estimated to be $800,000 a year.
Apart from the five catering co-ordinators, a canteen operator of an engineering company at the airport, his wife and a lorry driver were also arrested for their alleged involvement in the bribery scam.
It was alleged that since October 1998, the canteen operator had paid two of the catering co-ordinators $1,600 each a week as a reward for collecting foreign newspapers from arriving Cathay flights.
These catering co-ordinators, colloquially known as “ catering boys ” , were responsible for transporting catering carts into and out of the airplanes which landed at the airport.
Enquiries revealed that the newspapers were smuggled out of the airport through the compound of the engineering company, and delivered to two newspaper retailers in Central and Admiralty for sale.
The retail price of these papers ranged from $25 to $85 each.
It was alleged that in carrying out the scheme, the catering co-ordinator
would drive a van to drop a large pack of foreign newspapers, including
papers from New Zealand, Australia, France, the United Kingdom, Japan and Thailand, near a chemical waste box within the airport restricted area.
The canteen operator was believed to have collected the newspapers and transported them to the compound of the engineering firm, through which the newspapers would leave the airport.
In an operation which started on Thursday, ICAC officers seized from the canteen operator a quantity of foreign newspapers, minutes after he had left the engineering company.
The canteen operator was believed to be able to earn an extra income of $600 daily from the sale of these newspapers.
The lorry driver had allegedly assisted in the delivery of the newspapers and shared the sale proceeds.
The investigation also revealed that the five catering co-ordinators arrested had allegedly supplying foreign newspapers stolen from flights directly to a newspaper stall in Central and received a total reward of $5,500 a week.
The ICAC has been receiving full assistance from Cathay Pacific Airways Limited and Cathay Pacific Catering Services (Hong Kong) Limited in the investigation.
All the arrestees, aged from 25 to 45, will have been released on bail by tonight. Enquiries are continuing.
The retail value of the newspapers stolen, including The Australian , The New Zealand Herald and The Sydney Morning Herald, The Times and Bangkok Post, is estimated to be $800,000 a year.
Apart from the five catering co-ordinators, a canteen operator of an engineering company at the airport, his wife and a lorry driver were also arrested for their alleged involvement in the bribery scam.
It was alleged that since October 1998, the canteen operator had paid two of the catering co-ordinators $1,600 each a week as a reward for collecting foreign newspapers from arriving Cathay flights.
These catering co-ordinators, colloquially known as “ catering boys ” , were responsible for transporting catering carts into and out of the airplanes which landed at the airport.
Enquiries revealed that the newspapers were smuggled out of the airport through the compound of the engineering company, and delivered to two newspaper retailers in Central and Admiralty for sale.
The retail price of these papers ranged from $25 to $85 each.
It was alleged that in carrying out the scheme, the catering co-ordinator
would drive a van to drop a large pack of foreign newspapers, including
papers from New Zealand, Australia, France, the United Kingdom, Japan and Thailand, near a chemical waste box within the airport restricted area.
The canteen operator was believed to have collected the newspapers and transported them to the compound of the engineering firm, through which the newspapers would leave the airport.
In an operation which started on Thursday, ICAC officers seized from the canteen operator a quantity of foreign newspapers, minutes after he had left the engineering company.
The canteen operator was believed to be able to earn an extra income of $600 daily from the sale of these newspapers.
The lorry driver had allegedly assisted in the delivery of the newspapers and shared the sale proceeds.
The investigation also revealed that the five catering co-ordinators arrested had allegedly supplying foreign newspapers stolen from flights directly to a newspaper stall in Central and received a total reward of $5,500 a week.
The ICAC has been receiving full assistance from Cathay Pacific Airways Limited and Cathay Pacific Catering Services (Hong Kong) Limited in the investigation.
All the arrestees, aged from 25 to 45, will have been released on bail by tonight. Enquiries are continuing.