ICAC remains effective in tackling increasingly complex corruption
2008-7-2
The ICAC has maintained its effectiveness in combating increasingly complex corruption cases with the year 2007 ended with a case-based conviction rate hovering at 85 per cent.
Tabled at the Legislative Council (Legco) today (Wednesday), the 2007 ICAC Annual Report noted that the satisfactory conviction result was due in part to expertise rendered by the Commission’s specialist teams in forensic accounting and computer data analyses.
The Commission’s Financial Investigation Section had provided professional assistance to frontline investigators in 185 cases in 2007, representing a 23 per cent year-on-year increase. These cases involved 6,776 transactions totalling $4.91 billion.
The Computer Forensics Section, meanwhile, carried out 425 computer data analyses relating to 105 operations in 2007 as compared with 288 analyses concerning 145 operations in 2006.
Presenting the report, Legco member, Chan Kam-lam, who is also a member of the Advisory Committee on Corruption, said the Commission continued its relentless efforts to effectively combat graft on all fronts in the year under review.
The total number of corruption reports received in 2007 increased eight per cent to 3,600, of which 66 per cent were related to private sector organisations, 27 per cent government departments, and the remaining seven per cent public bodies.
Of the private sector complaints, building management continued to account for the bulk with 972 reports, followed by the catering and entertainment services, and the finance and insurance industry with 188 and 156 reports respectively.
In his review, ICAC Commissioner, Mr Timothy Tong Hin-ming, noted that the Commission attached great importance to enhancing professional standard of its staff to deal with the increasingly complex and global nature of corruption and related crimes.
Internationally, Mr Tong said, the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) to which China is a signatory had given the Commission extra momentum and responsibility to share anti-graft experiences.
In 2007, a record high of 471 visitors from 39 countries, including some UNCAC signatories, visited the Commission.
Locally, Mr Tong said the civil service remained clean and a culture of probity had become the accepted norm. “No effort has been spared and no area overlooked to this end, both in the public and private sectors.”
In collaboration with the Civil Services Bureau, a network of Ethics Officers comprising 145 directorate officers from 80 policy bureaux and departments was formed last year.
The Commission would continue to pay attention to outsourced public services and possible exploitation of the public procurement system through corrupt means, said Mr Tong.
In the building management sector, Mr Tong said the Commission would continue to keep a close watch on the possible emergence of corrupt syndicates vying for a part of the building renovation market.
A total of 36 persons were prosecuted in 2007 for corruption and related offences concerning the building management sector.
On the preventive side, an inter-departmental task force was formed to spearhead a holistic strategy to tackle building management issues, including the provision of a one-stop enquiry service.
With the support of trade associations and operators, the Corruption Prevention Department produced two Best Practice Modules on catering industry and supermarket operations.
The Department has also formed a special unit to proactively provide early preventive advice to government bureaux and departments involved in planning and implementing major development projects.
On the educational front, the ICAC has continued to work closely with partners in major industries on various ethics-building initiatives.
The Community Relations Department and 12 institutional stakeholders, including regulators, professional bodies and chambers of commerce, has launched an ethics programme for directors of listed companies in handling evolving ethical and governance issues .
Tabled at the Legislative Council (Legco) today (Wednesday), the 2007 ICAC Annual Report noted that the satisfactory conviction result was due in part to expertise rendered by the Commission’s specialist teams in forensic accounting and computer data analyses.
The Commission’s Financial Investigation Section had provided professional assistance to frontline investigators in 185 cases in 2007, representing a 23 per cent year-on-year increase. These cases involved 6,776 transactions totalling $4.91 billion.
The Computer Forensics Section, meanwhile, carried out 425 computer data analyses relating to 105 operations in 2007 as compared with 288 analyses concerning 145 operations in 2006.
Presenting the report, Legco member, Chan Kam-lam, who is also a member of the Advisory Committee on Corruption, said the Commission continued its relentless efforts to effectively combat graft on all fronts in the year under review.
The total number of corruption reports received in 2007 increased eight per cent to 3,600, of which 66 per cent were related to private sector organisations, 27 per cent government departments, and the remaining seven per cent public bodies.
Of the private sector complaints, building management continued to account for the bulk with 972 reports, followed by the catering and entertainment services, and the finance and insurance industry with 188 and 156 reports respectively.
In his review, ICAC Commissioner, Mr Timothy Tong Hin-ming, noted that the Commission attached great importance to enhancing professional standard of its staff to deal with the increasingly complex and global nature of corruption and related crimes.
Internationally, Mr Tong said, the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) to which China is a signatory had given the Commission extra momentum and responsibility to share anti-graft experiences.
In 2007, a record high of 471 visitors from 39 countries, including some UNCAC signatories, visited the Commission.
Locally, Mr Tong said the civil service remained clean and a culture of probity had become the accepted norm. “No effort has been spared and no area overlooked to this end, both in the public and private sectors.”
In collaboration with the Civil Services Bureau, a network of Ethics Officers comprising 145 directorate officers from 80 policy bureaux and departments was formed last year.
The Commission would continue to pay attention to outsourced public services and possible exploitation of the public procurement system through corrupt means, said Mr Tong.
In the building management sector, Mr Tong said the Commission would continue to keep a close watch on the possible emergence of corrupt syndicates vying for a part of the building renovation market.
A total of 36 persons were prosecuted in 2007 for corruption and related offences concerning the building management sector.
On the preventive side, an inter-departmental task force was formed to spearhead a holistic strategy to tackle building management issues, including the provision of a one-stop enquiry service.
With the support of trade associations and operators, the Corruption Prevention Department produced two Best Practice Modules on catering industry and supermarket operations.
The Department has also formed a special unit to proactively provide early preventive advice to government bureaux and departments involved in planning and implementing major development projects.
On the educational front, the ICAC has continued to work closely with partners in major industries on various ethics-building initiatives.
The Community Relations Department and 12 institutional stakeholders, including regulators, professional bodies and chambers of commerce, has launched an ethics programme for directors of listed companies in handling evolving ethical and governance issues .