A former senior engineer of a piling contractor and a former assistant clerk of works of an architectural consultant, charged by the ICAC for their roles in a substandard piling scam at Tin Chung Court in Tin Shui Wai, were today (Friday) convicted by a j ury at the Court of First Instance.

The court heard that a total of 585 piles were constructed at the site. Out of 32 piles selected for detailed tests, 29 were found to be shortened by about seven metres.

The incident was uncovered during the summer of 1999 when lifts could not be installed due to excessive tilting of the lift shafts caused by uneven settlements.

Wong Shun-wah, 39, former senior engineer of B+B Construction Company Limited (B+B) (formerly known as Franki Contractors Limited), and To Man-kum, 34, former assistant clerk of works employed by Hsin Yieh Architects and Associates Limited (Hsin Yieh) on behalf of the Housing Authority (HA), were found guilty of one joint charge of conspiracy to defraud.

Mr Justice Pang adjourned the case until October 31, 2003 for sentence, pending background reports. The defendants were remanded in the custody of the Correctional Services Department.

Wong and To were arrested in an ICAC operation, following a corruption complaint referred by the Housing Department.

Hsin Yieh was the architectural consultant appointed by HA to supervise the construction of Blocks 1 and 2 of Tin Chung Court Phase I, a Home Ownership Scheme project of HA in Tin Shui Wai; while B+B was the project's piling contractor.

The charge stated that between October 1996 and February 1997, Wong and To had conspired together to defraud Hsin Yieh and HA by making a false representation in the Registered Structural Engineer Report that the lengths of all as-built driven piles for B locks 1 and 2 of Tin Chung Court of Tin Shui Wai Area 31 Phase I had purportedly reached the depths as required in the contract.

The prosecution was today represented by Peter Callaghan on a fiat, assisted by ICAC officer Ringo Yung.