Trio sentenced for bribery over food supplies
2008-7-29
Two former employees of a chained hot pot restaurant and a tealeaf supplier were today (Tuesday) sentenced at Kwun Tong Magistracy for bribery in relation to food supplies to the restaurant.
Chiu Chak-man, 52, a former warehouse supervisor of Little Sheep Hong Kong Holdings Company Limited (Little Sheep), received a jail term of one year, while Ma Ka-wo, 37, a former head chef of Little Sheep, was jailed for six months.
Chiu and Ma were ordered to pay $21,000 and $5,000 respectively as restitution to their former employer. A watch which Chiu accepted as a bribe from a supplier was ordered to be sold, the proceeds of which were to be returned to his former employer.
Co-defendant Elvy Wong Wing-wah, 44, the proprietor of Hip Wah Tim Kee Tea Company, was sentenced to 240 hours of community service.
In sentencing, Magistrate Mr Johnny Chan said deterrent sentences had to be meted out to the defendants in view of the seriousness of their bribery offences.
Chiu was earlier found guilty of three counts of agent accepting an advantage, contrary to Section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (PBO), while Ma was convicted of one similar offence.
Wong pleaded guilty to one count of offering an advantage to an agent, contrary to Section 9(2)(b) of PBO.
The court heard that at the time of the offences, Chiu was responsible for purchasing all foodstuffs for the restaurants of Little Sheep, while Ma was tasked to decide on the amount of orders and assess the quality of food supplies. Wong was a tealeaf su pplier of Little Sheep.
Chiu started to contact an operator of two trading companies for quotations of frozen beef and prawns in May last year.
On June 12 last year, Chiu discussed the details of a contract for the supply of beef to Little Sheep at a meeting. Chiu subsequently accepted a watch worth $16,380 from the operator who hoped to become a beef supplier of Little Sheep.
On another occasion in August last year, Chiu accepted a $20,000 bribe from the same operator as a reward for placing prawn orders with him.
The court also heard that on June 25 last year, Chiu met Wong at a meeting when they discussed a proposal of Wong to raise the price of tea leaves to be supplied to Little Sheep.
During the meeting, Chiu accepted $1,000 from Wong in the belief that Wong was seeking his support to the proposed price rise. Wong admitted offering the said sum to Chiu for the same reason.
On August 3 last year, Ma accepted $5,000 from another frozen seafood supplier as a reward for placing more purchase orders with the latter. The $5,000 was deposited into Ma’s telebet account by the supplier, the court was told.
The prosecution was today represented by ICAC officer Jennifer Tam.
Chiu Chak-man, 52, a former warehouse supervisor of Little Sheep Hong Kong Holdings Company Limited (Little Sheep), received a jail term of one year, while Ma Ka-wo, 37, a former head chef of Little Sheep, was jailed for six months.
Chiu and Ma were ordered to pay $21,000 and $5,000 respectively as restitution to their former employer. A watch which Chiu accepted as a bribe from a supplier was ordered to be sold, the proceeds of which were to be returned to his former employer.
Co-defendant Elvy Wong Wing-wah, 44, the proprietor of Hip Wah Tim Kee Tea Company, was sentenced to 240 hours of community service.
In sentencing, Magistrate Mr Johnny Chan said deterrent sentences had to be meted out to the defendants in view of the seriousness of their bribery offences.
Chiu was earlier found guilty of three counts of agent accepting an advantage, contrary to Section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (PBO), while Ma was convicted of one similar offence.
Wong pleaded guilty to one count of offering an advantage to an agent, contrary to Section 9(2)(b) of PBO.
The court heard that at the time of the offences, Chiu was responsible for purchasing all foodstuffs for the restaurants of Little Sheep, while Ma was tasked to decide on the amount of orders and assess the quality of food supplies. Wong was a tealeaf su pplier of Little Sheep.
Chiu started to contact an operator of two trading companies for quotations of frozen beef and prawns in May last year.
On June 12 last year, Chiu discussed the details of a contract for the supply of beef to Little Sheep at a meeting. Chiu subsequently accepted a watch worth $16,380 from the operator who hoped to become a beef supplier of Little Sheep.
On another occasion in August last year, Chiu accepted a $20,000 bribe from the same operator as a reward for placing prawn orders with him.
The court also heard that on June 25 last year, Chiu met Wong at a meeting when they discussed a proposal of Wong to raise the price of tea leaves to be supplied to Little Sheep.
During the meeting, Chiu accepted $1,000 from Wong in the belief that Wong was seeking his support to the proposed price rise. Wong admitted offering the said sum to Chiu for the same reason.
On August 3 last year, Ma accepted $5,000 from another frozen seafood supplier as a reward for placing more purchase orders with the latter. The $5,000 was deposited into Ma’s telebet account by the supplier, the court was told.
The prosecution was today represented by ICAC officer Jennifer Tam.