Two serving and a former District Councillors charged over alleged $250,000 false rental claims
2006-1-10
Two incumbent and one former members of the Kowloon City District Council (KCDC) were today (Tuesday) charged by the ICAC over their alleged involvement in deceiving rental allowances totalling about $250,000 from the Government through inflating the mont hly rent paid for renting their joint ward office.
The defendants are Fung King-man Virginia, 58; and Lau Ting-pong, 56, both serving KCDC members, and Luk Wai-kong, 51, a former KCDC member.
Fung and Luk had also served in the Kowloon City Provisional District Board (KCPDB) between July 1997 and December 1999.
The trio will appear at Kowloon City Magistracy at 9:30 am on Thursday (January 12) on a total of seven charges –'96 one of conspiracy to defraud contrary to Common Law and six of furnishing false information under the Theft Ordinance.
The alleged offences were revealed during an earlier ICAC investigation into corruption allegations involving some District Councillors.
Fung and Luk face a joint charge of conspiracy to defraud. The two defendants had allegedly conspired to defraud the Government between April and August 1998 by dishonestly representing to KCPDB that they had each paid a monthly rent of $5,080 for rentin g a premises in Hung Hom as their joint ward office in June and July 1998.
It was alleged that as a result, the Government was induced to pay Fung and Luk a total of $20,320 in rental allowances whilst the two defendants had only paid about $14,800 in total for renting the flat.
Fung further faces four counts of furnishing false information for applying for reimbursements of office rental allowances between September 1998 and September 2004.
These charges allege that Fung had produced to the KCPDB and KCDC a total of 73 rental receipts and eight other receipts, which were to her knowledge misleading, false or deceptive, for claiming allowances from the Government.
These receipts purportedly showed that Fung had paid a monthly rent of $5,080, $9,000 or $10,000 for renting the said Hung Hom flat in different periods of time between August 1998 and August 2004, and a monthly fee of $1,100 for cleaning services for the same premises.
Lau faces two counts of similar charges of furnishing false information between December 1999 and January 2003.
He had allegedly produced to KCDC a total of 17 rental receipts which purportedly showed that he had paid a monthly rent of $10,000 or $2,000 in two different periods between January 2000 and December 2002 for renting the same premises as his ward office.
The defendants have been released on ICAC bail, pending their court appearances on Thursday.
The defendants are Fung King-man Virginia, 58; and Lau Ting-pong, 56, both serving KCDC members, and Luk Wai-kong, 51, a former KCDC member.
Fung and Luk had also served in the Kowloon City Provisional District Board (KCPDB) between July 1997 and December 1999.
The trio will appear at Kowloon City Magistracy at 9:30 am on Thursday (January 12) on a total of seven charges –'96 one of conspiracy to defraud contrary to Common Law and six of furnishing false information under the Theft Ordinance.
The alleged offences were revealed during an earlier ICAC investigation into corruption allegations involving some District Councillors.
Fung and Luk face a joint charge of conspiracy to defraud. The two defendants had allegedly conspired to defraud the Government between April and August 1998 by dishonestly representing to KCPDB that they had each paid a monthly rent of $5,080 for rentin g a premises in Hung Hom as their joint ward office in June and July 1998.
It was alleged that as a result, the Government was induced to pay Fung and Luk a total of $20,320 in rental allowances whilst the two defendants had only paid about $14,800 in total for renting the flat.
Fung further faces four counts of furnishing false information for applying for reimbursements of office rental allowances between September 1998 and September 2004.
These charges allege that Fung had produced to the KCPDB and KCDC a total of 73 rental receipts and eight other receipts, which were to her knowledge misleading, false or deceptive, for claiming allowances from the Government.
These receipts purportedly showed that Fung had paid a monthly rent of $5,080, $9,000 or $10,000 for renting the said Hung Hom flat in different periods of time between August 1998 and August 2004, and a monthly fee of $1,100 for cleaning services for the same premises.
Lau faces two counts of similar charges of furnishing false information between December 1999 and January 2003.
He had allegedly produced to KCDC a total of 17 rental receipts which purportedly showed that he had paid a monthly rent of $10,000 or $2,000 in two different periods between January 2000 and December 2002 for renting the same premises as his ward office.
The defendants have been released on ICAC bail, pending their court appearances on Thursday.