Government Senior Training Officer gets seven months for misconduct offences over award of contracts
2001-3-20
A Senior Training Officer of the Civil Service Training and Development Institute (CSTDI), who wilfully concealed her marital relationship with a contractor when recommending him to obtain government contracts, was jailed for seven months at Eastern Court today (Tuesday) for misconduct in public office and deception offences.
The court heard that Chung Sim-ying, Tracy, had recommended her husband, the proprietor of a production house, to be awarded contracts worth $133,400 in total for various training material production and deliberately omitted to declare her conflict of int erest.
Chung, 32, was found guilty today on six counts of misconduct in public office under the Common Law, and six deception charges.
The court ordered three alternative charges alleging Chung of using a false document to deceive her principal, contrary to Section 9(3) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance, be left on file.
Magistrate Mr Eddie Yip said the defendant, who demonstrated a serious breach of trust perpetuating on her superiors and tactful manipulation of rules, warranted an immediate custodial sentence.
The magistrate also noted that the case involved a sophisticated scheme and various kinds of manipulation carefully engineered by the defendant.
An ICAC spokesman said: “The conviction, so far the second of its kind, again reflects that such kind of behaviour is considered serious criminal offences by the court.”
The spokesman noted that the ICAC would expedite its research into the feasibility of including the Common Law offence of "misconduct in public office" in the statute law in light of recent court rulings on such cases.
The spokesman emphasized that the Commission is seeking to statutorise a Common Law offence which had long existed to heighten the awareness of civil servants to this criminal offence.
The court heard that between January and September 1999, Chung had wilfully concealed the fact that she was married to the proprietor of TOD Promotions (TOD) when recommending TOD for contracts in relation to the design, printing and production service of various CSTDI publications and training packages.
As a result of Chung's recommendation, TOD was granted various contracts by CSTDI in relation to the production of two booklets on "The Defence and Security Systems of the PRC" and "The Education System in the PRC", and their versions in videotape and VCD , and a booklet "30 FAQ on the Basic Law".
The prosecution was today represented by Senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Ian McWalters, assisted by ICAC officer Charlie Kwong.
The court heard that Chung Sim-ying, Tracy, had recommended her husband, the proprietor of a production house, to be awarded contracts worth $133,400 in total for various training material production and deliberately omitted to declare her conflict of int erest.
Chung, 32, was found guilty today on six counts of misconduct in public office under the Common Law, and six deception charges.
The court ordered three alternative charges alleging Chung of using a false document to deceive her principal, contrary to Section 9(3) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance, be left on file.
Magistrate Mr Eddie Yip said the defendant, who demonstrated a serious breach of trust perpetuating on her superiors and tactful manipulation of rules, warranted an immediate custodial sentence.
The magistrate also noted that the case involved a sophisticated scheme and various kinds of manipulation carefully engineered by the defendant.
An ICAC spokesman said: “The conviction, so far the second of its kind, again reflects that such kind of behaviour is considered serious criminal offences by the court.”
The spokesman noted that the ICAC would expedite its research into the feasibility of including the Common Law offence of "misconduct in public office" in the statute law in light of recent court rulings on such cases.
The spokesman emphasized that the Commission is seeking to statutorise a Common Law offence which had long existed to heighten the awareness of civil servants to this criminal offence.
The court heard that between January and September 1999, Chung had wilfully concealed the fact that she was married to the proprietor of TOD Promotions (TOD) when recommending TOD for contracts in relation to the design, printing and production service of various CSTDI publications and training packages.
As a result of Chung's recommendation, TOD was granted various contracts by CSTDI in relation to the production of two booklets on "The Defence and Security Systems of the PRC" and "The Education System in the PRC", and their versions in videotape and VCD , and a booklet "30 FAQ on the Basic Law".
The prosecution was today represented by Senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Ian McWalters, assisted by ICAC officer Charlie Kwong.