Frozen meat supplier and restaurant staff jailed for bribery and fraud over food supplies
2007-10-2
An operator of a frozen meat company and an accounting supervisor of a restaurant, charged by the ICAC, were today (Tuesday) jailed at District Court for bribery and fraud in relation to food supplies in separate cases.
In the first case, Lau Chor-lam, 57, operator of Shing Kam Ho (SKH), was sentenced to 30 months' imprisonment.
Lau earlier pleaded guilty to 12 counts of offering advantages to an agent, contrary to Section 9(2) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance, and two counts of conspiracy to defraud.
In sentencing, Judge Peter Longley said a custodial sentence was imposed in view of the seriousness of the bribery offences, which lasted a long period of time.
The court heard that at the time of the offences between January 1999 and December 2005, SKH was a frozen meat supplier of Langham Hotel, Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, Ramada Hotel Kowloon, Le Meridien Cyberport Hotel, Peninsula Hong Kong, Cityplaza Harbour Re staurant (Cityplaza), Grand Lord Seafood Restaurant (Grand Lord), Hing Fat Restaurant, and HEBE Haven Yacht Club.
During the above period, Lau Chor-lam had offered regular bribe payments, ranging from a few hundred to ten thousand dollars odd on each occasion, to chefs or purchasing officers of the above establishments.
In return, the staff members of those establishments placed orders with SKH, and did not complain about the quality of goods delivered by the supplier.
The court also heard that between May and November 2005, Lau Chor-lam had conspired with Lau Tung-kai, an accounting supervisor of Cityplaza, to defraud Cityplaza by submitting false invoices of SKH to the restaurant.
As a result, Cityplaza was caused to pay SKH in accordance with those invoices, which contained overstated quantities of food sold and delivered to Cityplaza.
Between February and November 2005, Lau Chor-lam had conspired with Lau Tung-kai, also an accounting staff of Grand Lord, to defraud Grand Lord by submitting false invoices of SKH to the restaurant, and causing Grand Lord to pay for goods which had not be en delivered, the court was told.
In another case, Lau Tung-kai, 73, was earlier charged with two counts of conspiracy to defraud for his role in the above scams. He had pleaded guilty, and was today jailed for 12 months.
Judge Longley reprimanded Lau Tung-kai for committing the offences, which constituted a breach of trust.
A total of 14 persons, including Lau Chor-lam and Lau Tung-kai, have been charged by the ICAC with bribery and related offences in connection with the same investigation.
Apart from Lau Chor-lam and Lau Tung-kai, nine other defendants had pleaded guilty while two others were convicted of bribery and fraud charges after trial. One person was acquitted.
Seven of the 11 defendants convicted received jail terms ranging from three months to 18 months, while four others were ordered to perform community services.
The prosecution was today represented by prosecuting counsel Adrian Bell, assisted by ICAC officer William Lam.
In the first case, Lau Chor-lam, 57, operator of Shing Kam Ho (SKH), was sentenced to 30 months' imprisonment.
Lau earlier pleaded guilty to 12 counts of offering advantages to an agent, contrary to Section 9(2) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance, and two counts of conspiracy to defraud.
In sentencing, Judge Peter Longley said a custodial sentence was imposed in view of the seriousness of the bribery offences, which lasted a long period of time.
The court heard that at the time of the offences between January 1999 and December 2005, SKH was a frozen meat supplier of Langham Hotel, Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, Ramada Hotel Kowloon, Le Meridien Cyberport Hotel, Peninsula Hong Kong, Cityplaza Harbour Re staurant (Cityplaza), Grand Lord Seafood Restaurant (Grand Lord), Hing Fat Restaurant, and HEBE Haven Yacht Club.
During the above period, Lau Chor-lam had offered regular bribe payments, ranging from a few hundred to ten thousand dollars odd on each occasion, to chefs or purchasing officers of the above establishments.
In return, the staff members of those establishments placed orders with SKH, and did not complain about the quality of goods delivered by the supplier.
The court also heard that between May and November 2005, Lau Chor-lam had conspired with Lau Tung-kai, an accounting supervisor of Cityplaza, to defraud Cityplaza by submitting false invoices of SKH to the restaurant.
As a result, Cityplaza was caused to pay SKH in accordance with those invoices, which contained overstated quantities of food sold and delivered to Cityplaza.
Between February and November 2005, Lau Chor-lam had conspired with Lau Tung-kai, also an accounting staff of Grand Lord, to defraud Grand Lord by submitting false invoices of SKH to the restaurant, and causing Grand Lord to pay for goods which had not be en delivered, the court was told.
In another case, Lau Tung-kai, 73, was earlier charged with two counts of conspiracy to defraud for his role in the above scams. He had pleaded guilty, and was today jailed for 12 months.
Judge Longley reprimanded Lau Tung-kai for committing the offences, which constituted a breach of trust.
A total of 14 persons, including Lau Chor-lam and Lau Tung-kai, have been charged by the ICAC with bribery and related offences in connection with the same investigation.
Apart from Lau Chor-lam and Lau Tung-kai, nine other defendants had pleaded guilty while two others were convicted of bribery and fraud charges after trial. One person was acquitted.
Seven of the 11 defendants convicted received jail terms ranging from three months to 18 months, while four others were ordered to perform community services.
The prosecution was today represented by prosecuting counsel Adrian Bell, assisted by ICAC officer William Lam.