Four jailed for bribery over food supply to Japanese restaurants and sushi stalls
2009-9-4
The District Court today (Friday) meted out jail terms ranging from six to 18 months to four persons charged by the ICAC for bribery and fraud over the supply of frozen salmon and eel to Japanese restaurants and sushi stalls in supermarkets.
Chan Kin-chung, 41, shareholder cum director of Kana Transa Group (H.K.) Company Limited (Kana Transa), was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment and fined $11,000. He had earlier admitted five counts of fraud and one of offering advantages to an agent.
Lau Tat, 39, also shareholder cum director of Kana Transa, who had earlier pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud, was jailed for nine months.
Tam Wai-man, 28, and Liu Tak-keung, 30, both former chefs of Tokyo Sushi, each received a six-month jail term for one count of fraud.
In passing sentence, Judge Stanley Chan stressed the importance of maintaining a clean business environment in Hong Kong.
The court heard that Kana Transa was a wholesaler of seafood supplying frozen salmon and eel to Japanese restaurants and chained stalls in supermarkets.
At the time of the offences, Tam and Liu were employed by Five Harvest (Hong Kong) Limited as chefs of Tokyo Sushi (Tokyo). They were responsible for placing purchase orders with suppliers and were required by Tokyo to weigh the food delivered and check the invoices.
The court heard that since 2005, the four defendants had agreed amongst themselves to exaggerate the weight of salmon stated in the invoices issued by Kana Transa to Tokyo.
Each time when Tam and Liu received salmon supplied by Kana Transa, they would mark up the weight on the invoice by 500 grams.
The overstated amount, about $35 for each tail of fish, would then be deposited into Tam’s telebet account for him to share with Liu.
The court further heard that between 2007 and September 2008, Chan and Lau had overstated the weight of frozen fish in the invoices and/or created bogus invoices for food delivered to the sushi stalls at the Whampao Branch and Kornhill Branch of PTC-Nakaj ima Suisan (Hong Kong) Company Limited (PTC-Nakajima). The inflated amount was about $50 per box of frozen fish or food.
Chan had also offered two employees of the above two sushi stalls cash rebates ranging from $3,000 to $10,000 on a number of occasions, depending on the value of purchase orders.
The court also heard that Chan and Lau had used similar fraudulent means to deceive two other Japanese restaurants –'96 Sapporo Ramen Domon and Dream Maker Shichi Fuku San Limited, between 2007 and September last year.
Chan had also offered a total of $11,710 to a former chef of Agura Creative Dinning between January 2007 and August 2008, as rewards for the latter to place purchase orders with Kana Transa.
The prosecution was today represented by Public Prosecutor Sheroy Tam, assisted by ICAC officer Queenie Woo.
Chan Kin-chung, 41, shareholder cum director of Kana Transa Group (H.K.) Company Limited (Kana Transa), was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment and fined $11,000. He had earlier admitted five counts of fraud and one of offering advantages to an agent.
Lau Tat, 39, also shareholder cum director of Kana Transa, who had earlier pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud, was jailed for nine months.
Tam Wai-man, 28, and Liu Tak-keung, 30, both former chefs of Tokyo Sushi, each received a six-month jail term for one count of fraud.
In passing sentence, Judge Stanley Chan stressed the importance of maintaining a clean business environment in Hong Kong.
The court heard that Kana Transa was a wholesaler of seafood supplying frozen salmon and eel to Japanese restaurants and chained stalls in supermarkets.
At the time of the offences, Tam and Liu were employed by Five Harvest (Hong Kong) Limited as chefs of Tokyo Sushi (Tokyo). They were responsible for placing purchase orders with suppliers and were required by Tokyo to weigh the food delivered and check the invoices.
The court heard that since 2005, the four defendants had agreed amongst themselves to exaggerate the weight of salmon stated in the invoices issued by Kana Transa to Tokyo.
Each time when Tam and Liu received salmon supplied by Kana Transa, they would mark up the weight on the invoice by 500 grams.
The overstated amount, about $35 for each tail of fish, would then be deposited into Tam’s telebet account for him to share with Liu.
The court further heard that between 2007 and September 2008, Chan and Lau had overstated the weight of frozen fish in the invoices and/or created bogus invoices for food delivered to the sushi stalls at the Whampao Branch and Kornhill Branch of PTC-Nakaj ima Suisan (Hong Kong) Company Limited (PTC-Nakajima). The inflated amount was about $50 per box of frozen fish or food.
Chan had also offered two employees of the above two sushi stalls cash rebates ranging from $3,000 to $10,000 on a number of occasions, depending on the value of purchase orders.
The court also heard that Chan and Lau had used similar fraudulent means to deceive two other Japanese restaurants –'96 Sapporo Ramen Domon and Dream Maker Shichi Fuku San Limited, between 2007 and September last year.
Chan had also offered a total of $11,710 to a former chef of Agura Creative Dinning between January 2007 and August 2008, as rewards for the latter to place purchase orders with Kana Transa.
The prosecution was today represented by Public Prosecutor Sheroy Tam, assisted by ICAC officer Queenie Woo.