Nine charged for alleged substandard piling bribery scam at Tin Chung Court
2001-10-11
The ICAC today (Thursday) charged nine persons for their alleged involvement in a substandard piling bribery scam at Tin Chung Court Phase I, a Housing Authority (HA) Home Ownership Scheme project in Tin Shui Wai.
The nine defendants, currently on ICAC bail, will appear at 9:30 am in Eastern Court tomorrow (Friday) on a total of 24 offences, including conspiracy to defraud, corruption, and using false documents to deceive the Hong Kong Government.
Hsin Yieh Architects & Associates Limited (Hsin Yieh) was the architectural consultant appointed by HA to supervise the construction of Tin Chung Court.
Three of the defendants are Hsin Yieh's former staff members employed on behalf of the Hong Kong Government. They are To Man-kum (32), Assistant Clerk of Works; Lau Kuen-fai (28), Works Supervisor I; and Lau Sai-man (28), Works Supervisor II.
Five other defendants are formerly employed by the project's piling contractor Franki Contractors Limited, which was later renamed as B+B Construction Company Limited (B+B). They are Lo Kwan-shing (66), registered structural engineer; So Wing-pui (57), s enior design engineer; Lam Nai-wai (40), design engineer; and Wong Shun-wah (37) and Dai Yan-bun (32), both quality control engineers.
The remaining defendant is Chan Tit-shau (46), former geotechnical engineer of Joseph Chow & Partners Limited, the geo-technical sub-consultant for the project.
The nine defendants were arrested in an earlier ICAC operation, following a corruption complaint referred by the Housing Department.
One of the charges alleges Lo, So, Lam, Wong and Chan of conspiring together to defraud Hsin Yieh and HA in the design-and-build foundation project at Block 1 and Block 2 of Tin Chung Court, by dishonestly:
- permitting the submission of the Registered Structural Engineer Report dated July 7, 1997 to Hsin Yieh and HA, which certified that the pile foundations were constructed in accordance with the general specifications of material and workmanship as laid dow n in the contract;
- falsely representing that the calculated ultimate loads for piles shown on design drawings exceeded the working load capacity, and that the total and residual settlements were within the specified limits; and
- causing and permitting Hsin Yieh to issue a certificate of completion, and thereby causing HA to pay for the works done.
Wong, Dai, To, Lau Kuen-fai and Lau Sai-man further face a joint charge of conspiracy to defraud Hsin Yieh and HA.
They are accused of falsely representing that they personally supervised and oversaw the making of the final set records relating to the precast prestressed concrete (PPC) piles installed at the tower blocks, and that such records accurately represented a nd recorded the measurements of the downward movement of the piles concerned.
Meanwhile, Wong and To are jointly accused of conspiring together to defraud Hsin Yieh and HA by falsely representing that the lengths of all driven piles had purportedly reached the required depths.
To further faces one count of accepting advantages in his capacity of a public servant, while he was employed by Hsin Yieh on behalf of the Hong Kong Government as an Assistant Clerk of Works.
He is alleged to have accepted the payment or discharge of his liability for expenses incurred for meals and nightclub entertainment in return for favouring staff of B+B, involved in the foundation project at Tin Shui Wai Area 31 Phase I.
To is also charged with 10 counts of using false documents, including final set records on the measurement of the downward movement of the PPC piles and piling records of driven piles, with intent to mislead the Hong Kong Government.
Lau Kuen-fai and Lau Sai-man each faces five counts of using false final set records for PPC piles for the same reason.
The alleged offences took place between September 1996 and October 1997.
The nine defendants, currently on ICAC bail, will appear at 9:30 am in Eastern Court tomorrow (Friday) on a total of 24 offences, including conspiracy to defraud, corruption, and using false documents to deceive the Hong Kong Government.
Hsin Yieh Architects & Associates Limited (Hsin Yieh) was the architectural consultant appointed by HA to supervise the construction of Tin Chung Court.
Three of the defendants are Hsin Yieh's former staff members employed on behalf of the Hong Kong Government. They are To Man-kum (32), Assistant Clerk of Works; Lau Kuen-fai (28), Works Supervisor I; and Lau Sai-man (28), Works Supervisor II.
Five other defendants are formerly employed by the project's piling contractor Franki Contractors Limited, which was later renamed as B+B Construction Company Limited (B+B). They are Lo Kwan-shing (66), registered structural engineer; So Wing-pui (57), s enior design engineer; Lam Nai-wai (40), design engineer; and Wong Shun-wah (37) and Dai Yan-bun (32), both quality control engineers.
The remaining defendant is Chan Tit-shau (46), former geotechnical engineer of Joseph Chow & Partners Limited, the geo-technical sub-consultant for the project.
The nine defendants were arrested in an earlier ICAC operation, following a corruption complaint referred by the Housing Department.
One of the charges alleges Lo, So, Lam, Wong and Chan of conspiring together to defraud Hsin Yieh and HA in the design-and-build foundation project at Block 1 and Block 2 of Tin Chung Court, by dishonestly:
- permitting the submission of the Registered Structural Engineer Report dated July 7, 1997 to Hsin Yieh and HA, which certified that the pile foundations were constructed in accordance with the general specifications of material and workmanship as laid dow n in the contract;
- falsely representing that the calculated ultimate loads for piles shown on design drawings exceeded the working load capacity, and that the total and residual settlements were within the specified limits; and
- causing and permitting Hsin Yieh to issue a certificate of completion, and thereby causing HA to pay for the works done.
Wong, Dai, To, Lau Kuen-fai and Lau Sai-man further face a joint charge of conspiracy to defraud Hsin Yieh and HA.
They are accused of falsely representing that they personally supervised and oversaw the making of the final set records relating to the precast prestressed concrete (PPC) piles installed at the tower blocks, and that such records accurately represented a nd recorded the measurements of the downward movement of the piles concerned.
Meanwhile, Wong and To are jointly accused of conspiring together to defraud Hsin Yieh and HA by falsely representing that the lengths of all driven piles had purportedly reached the required depths.
To further faces one count of accepting advantages in his capacity of a public servant, while he was employed by Hsin Yieh on behalf of the Hong Kong Government as an Assistant Clerk of Works.
He is alleged to have accepted the payment or discharge of his liability for expenses incurred for meals and nightclub entertainment in return for favouring staff of B+B, involved in the foundation project at Tin Shui Wai Area 31 Phase I.
To is also charged with 10 counts of using false documents, including final set records on the measurement of the downward movement of the PPC piles and piling records of driven piles, with intent to mislead the Hong Kong Government.
Lau Kuen-fai and Lau Sai-man each faces five counts of using false final set records for PPC piles for the same reason.
The alleged offences took place between September 1996 and October 1997.