Two government employees and a company director were today (Tuesday) charged by the ICAC for allegedly conspiring to defraud the Architectural Services Department (ASD) over the awarding of a $210,000 replacement project at the Reptile House in Tuen Mun T own Park.

Lam Kam-lun, 46, Senior Property Services Officer of ASD; Lee Shing-hung, 45, Structural Engineer of the Buildings Department; and Chan Wai-hung, 40, director of Teamworld Construction & Consultancy Co. Ltd. (Teamworld), will appear in Tuen Mun Magistracy at 9:30 am tomorrow (Wednesday) on one count of conspiracy to defraud ASD.

The charge alleges that between November 5 and December 15, 2001, the defendants had conspired with other persons to defraud ASD in relation to the replacement of roof panels at the Reptile House in Tuen Mun Town Park.

It is alleged that the defendants had falsely represented that:

- the quotations submitted by five companies (collectively referred to as fraudulent quotations) and Teamworld were genuinely competitive ones; and

- the quotation submitted by Teamworld for the replacement project, being lower than the fraudulent quotations, was obtained through a competitive process and was prepared separately from and independently of the fraudulent quotations.

As a result, the defendants allegedly intended to deceive ASD into granting Teamworld the contract to carry out the replacement project. However, the project was withdrawn before a contract was issued.

The case arose from an investigation into corruption allegations in relation to government maintenance projects.

The defendants have been released on ICAC bail, pending their court appearances tomorrow.