Airport Railway contractor faces piling scam charges
2000-7-24
A piling work contractor who returned to Hong Kong from the United States yesterday evening appeared in Eastern Court this (Monday) afternoon on bribery and conspiracy charges in relation to the substandard piling scam at the Airport Railway Hong Kong Sta tion project.
No plea was taken from Hui Wai-chung, 38, proprietor of On Foundation Engineering Company (On Foundation). Magistrate Mr Ian Candy adjourned the case until August 16 this year, pending transfer to District Court. Hui was remanded in the custody of the I CAC.
On Foundation was a piling contractor of the Airport Railway Hong Kong Station Northern Site (Northern Site) project. The contract value for the bored pile works amounted to over $100 million.
The first charge alleged Hui of conspiring with shareholder of Pak Kee Transportation Company Limited Shek Kwok-wing, On Foundation superintendent Ng Chun-hing, engineer Kwok Chi-hung, foremen Leung Yee-tai and So Bor-shun, project manager of B+B Construc tion Company Limited Tam Tung-kee, engineers Wong Ka-wing and Cheng Siu-ming and others to defraud the developer and contractors of the Northern Site.
The developer was Central Waterfront Property Development Limited, and the contractors were Aoki Corporation and Bachy Soletanche Group Limited.
Hui was alleged to have dishonestly not constructed the bored piles for the foundation works of the Northern Site in accordance with the site plan approved by the Buildings department, and caused the developer and contractors to pay for work that had not been done in accordance with the approved plan.
The second charge alleged that Hui had offered $50,000 in bribes to Wong Ka-wing as a reward for Wong showing favour in relation to the foundation works of the Northern Site.
The alleged offences took place between May 1 and November 30, 1997.
Hui left Hong Kong before the ICAC investigation commenced. A warrant for Hui’s arrest was issued by the court in Hong Kong in August last year.
The Department of Justice later sent a letter of request for the ICAC to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for the arrest of Hui in the US.
Hui was arrested by FBI officers in New York in May this year. After agreeing to waive extradition proceedings, he returned to Hong Kong yesterday evening to face trial.
Apart from Hui, 12 other people - an industrial diver, a surveyor, three engineers, one project manager, two foremen, a works superintendent, a transportation company shareholder and two other subcontractors - had been prosecuted in the piling scam, and a ll were convicted. They received prison terms ranging from one year to three years and eight months.
The prosecution was today represented by Senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Kevin Zervos, assisted by ICAC officer Irene Kong.
No plea was taken from Hui Wai-chung, 38, proprietor of On Foundation Engineering Company (On Foundation). Magistrate Mr Ian Candy adjourned the case until August 16 this year, pending transfer to District Court. Hui was remanded in the custody of the I CAC.
On Foundation was a piling contractor of the Airport Railway Hong Kong Station Northern Site (Northern Site) project. The contract value for the bored pile works amounted to over $100 million.
The first charge alleged Hui of conspiring with shareholder of Pak Kee Transportation Company Limited Shek Kwok-wing, On Foundation superintendent Ng Chun-hing, engineer Kwok Chi-hung, foremen Leung Yee-tai and So Bor-shun, project manager of B+B Construc tion Company Limited Tam Tung-kee, engineers Wong Ka-wing and Cheng Siu-ming and others to defraud the developer and contractors of the Northern Site.
The developer was Central Waterfront Property Development Limited, and the contractors were Aoki Corporation and Bachy Soletanche Group Limited.
Hui was alleged to have dishonestly not constructed the bored piles for the foundation works of the Northern Site in accordance with the site plan approved by the Buildings department, and caused the developer and contractors to pay for work that had not been done in accordance with the approved plan.
The second charge alleged that Hui had offered $50,000 in bribes to Wong Ka-wing as a reward for Wong showing favour in relation to the foundation works of the Northern Site.
The alleged offences took place between May 1 and November 30, 1997.
Hui left Hong Kong before the ICAC investigation commenced. A warrant for Hui’s arrest was issued by the court in Hong Kong in August last year.
The Department of Justice later sent a letter of request for the ICAC to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for the arrest of Hui in the US.
Hui was arrested by FBI officers in New York in May this year. After agreeing to waive extradition proceedings, he returned to Hong Kong yesterday evening to face trial.
Apart from Hui, 12 other people - an industrial diver, a surveyor, three engineers, one project manager, two foremen, a works superintendent, a transportation company shareholder and two other subcontractors - had been prosecuted in the piling scam, and a ll were convicted. They received prison terms ranging from one year to three years and eight months.
The prosecution was today represented by Senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Kevin Zervos, assisted by ICAC officer Irene Kong.