Seven arrested for alleged $1.6m computer product bribery scam
2001-12-4
The ICAC yesterday (Monday) arrested seven persons for an alleged bribery scam over the trading of computer products, which caused a $1.6 million loss to the computer product company which is a subsidiary of a Japanese corporation.
The arrestees included a manager and three former managers of the computer product company, and two shareholders and an operator of two local trading companies.
An internal audit by the computer product company earlier revealed that the majority of the purchase orders from a trading company in the period between August 2000 and July this year had disappeared from the company’s records.
Further examination revealed that some of the computer products, worth about $1.6 million in total, had been sold at zero unit price.
The ICAC commenced an investigation after receiving a corruption complaint, alleging that a former manager of the computer product company had accepted illegal commissions to facilitate the sale scam.
Inquiries revealed that in August 2000, some former employees of the company had set up a trading company and allegedly obtained the corrupt assistance from the then finance manager of the computer product company in purchasing computer products at a zero unit price.
Such products included computer hard discs, memory chips and Ethernet cards.
It was alleged that the purchases were made through another trading company to avoid suspicion. This trading company was in fact engaged in fruit trading business.
The then finance manager of the computer product company had also allegedly prepared false invoices, purportedly showing that some outdated products were sold at excessively high prices in order to balance the accounts.
The arrestees have been released on ICAC bail. Inquiries into the corruption allegation is continuing.
The arrestees included a manager and three former managers of the computer product company, and two shareholders and an operator of two local trading companies.
An internal audit by the computer product company earlier revealed that the majority of the purchase orders from a trading company in the period between August 2000 and July this year had disappeared from the company’s records.
Further examination revealed that some of the computer products, worth about $1.6 million in total, had been sold at zero unit price.
The ICAC commenced an investigation after receiving a corruption complaint, alleging that a former manager of the computer product company had accepted illegal commissions to facilitate the sale scam.
Inquiries revealed that in August 2000, some former employees of the company had set up a trading company and allegedly obtained the corrupt assistance from the then finance manager of the computer product company in purchasing computer products at a zero unit price.
Such products included computer hard discs, memory chips and Ethernet cards.
It was alleged that the purchases were made through another trading company to avoid suspicion. This trading company was in fact engaged in fruit trading business.
The then finance manager of the computer product company had also allegedly prepared false invoices, purportedly showing that some outdated products were sold at excessively high prices in order to balance the accounts.
The arrestees have been released on ICAC bail. Inquiries into the corruption allegation is continuing.