Ex-principal jailed for bribery to swindle school out of $120,000
2004-3-26
A former principal of a primary school, charged by the ICAC, was today (Friday) sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment at District Court for bribery and conspiracy to inflate invoices to cheat the school of more than $120,000.
So Chi-cheong, 65, former principal of Sam Shui Natives Association School in Tai Po, was also ordered to pay a restitution of $122,640 to the school.
So yesterday pleaded guilty to four charges - one of conspiracy for an agent to accept advantages, two of conspiracy for an agent to use documents with intent to deceive his principal, and one of fraud.
In sentencing, Judge Line said a custodial sentence was imposed, in view of the defendant's dishonesty as well as his breach of trust displayed in the fraud.
The judge also commended ICAC officers for their preparation of case information, which was instrumental to the trial.
The court heard that So had asked Chan Kam-nam, an operator of uniforms supplier Tai Tung Hong, to supply files and diary jackets to the school.
Chan obtained the items from the school's stationery supplier and marked up the prices.
So then arranged payment to Tai Tung Hong, and received a total of $10,000 as rewards.
On another occasion, So told four school janitors to make dresses for dancing competitions and asked Chan to issue 25 bogus invoices totalling $55,552.
So arranged for the payment of the invoices to Chan, who subsequently returned the money in full to So.
The court heard that So also conspired with Lau Sun-youi, owner of stationery supplier Tai Hing (Highway Trading) Book & Stationery Service (Tai Hing), to issue four bogus cash memos totalling $55,188, falsely representing that Tai Hing had supplied stati onery to the school.
Likewise, So also arranged for the payment to be made to Tai Hing, which then returned the money to So.
The court also heard that So made a false claim of $3,500 in relation to painting works from the school. Out of the $3,500, So gave $1,600 to a clerical assistant of the school as wages not covered by the latter's employment contract.
The offences took place between September 1998 and September 2002.
The prosecution was today represented by Patrick Loftus on a fiat, assisted by ICAC officer James Cheng.
So Chi-cheong, 65, former principal of Sam Shui Natives Association School in Tai Po, was also ordered to pay a restitution of $122,640 to the school.
So yesterday pleaded guilty to four charges - one of conspiracy for an agent to accept advantages, two of conspiracy for an agent to use documents with intent to deceive his principal, and one of fraud.
In sentencing, Judge Line said a custodial sentence was imposed, in view of the defendant's dishonesty as well as his breach of trust displayed in the fraud.
The judge also commended ICAC officers for their preparation of case information, which was instrumental to the trial.
The court heard that So had asked Chan Kam-nam, an operator of uniforms supplier Tai Tung Hong, to supply files and diary jackets to the school.
Chan obtained the items from the school's stationery supplier and marked up the prices.
So then arranged payment to Tai Tung Hong, and received a total of $10,000 as rewards.
On another occasion, So told four school janitors to make dresses for dancing competitions and asked Chan to issue 25 bogus invoices totalling $55,552.
So arranged for the payment of the invoices to Chan, who subsequently returned the money in full to So.
The court heard that So also conspired with Lau Sun-youi, owner of stationery supplier Tai Hing (Highway Trading) Book & Stationery Service (Tai Hing), to issue four bogus cash memos totalling $55,188, falsely representing that Tai Hing had supplied stati onery to the school.
Likewise, So also arranged for the payment to be made to Tai Hing, which then returned the money to So.
The court also heard that So made a false claim of $3,500 in relation to painting works from the school. Out of the $3,500, So gave $1,600 to a clerical assistant of the school as wages not covered by the latter's employment contract.
The offences took place between September 1998 and September 2002.
The prosecution was today represented by Patrick Loftus on a fiat, assisted by ICAC officer James Cheng.