Ex-mortuary attendants jailed for accepting bribes from funeral service providers
2010-9-30
Two former mortuary attendants of a public hospital, charged by the ICAC, were today (Thursday) sent to jail at Tuen Mun Magistracy for conspiracy to accept over $100,000 in bribes from some funeral service providers for giving preferential treatment to t hem.
Ip Ping-chuen, 51, was jailed for three months by Deputy Magistrate Ms Amy Chan Wai-mun, while Lam Kwok-choi, 63, received a jail term of five months.
Ip and Lam were also ordered to pay $54,000 and $51,600 respectively as restitution to the government.
Ip earlier pleaded guilty to two counts of public servant conspiring to accept advantages, contrary to Section 4(2)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and Section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance. Lam admitted one count of similar offence.
The court heard that at the time of the offences, Ip and Lam were mortuary attendants of the Mortuary Unit of Tuen Mun Hospital.
When Ip was posted to the hospital in April 2005, another mortuary attendant Shing Keung-foo told him that some funeral service providers had offered advantages to them.
In return, they arranged for the funeral service providers to claim and remove dead bodies from the hospital before office hours, and took extra care of the dead bodies.
Shing also said he would collect the bribe payments offered by the funeral service providers, and share the monies with other mortuary attendants on a monthly basis.
Having agreed to join the scam, Ip shared the corrupt proceeds with Shing, Lam and two other mortuary attendants –'96 Lai Chi-wai and Sit Man-kui. Each month, Ip got around $4,000.
Between 1997 and 2006, Lam had got several hundred dollars per month from Shing and Lai as rewards for cleaning the rubbish left over by the funeral service providers after removing the corpses.
As a result, Ip and Lam received a total of over $100,000 in bribes from the funeral service providers, the court was told.
Shing, 55, Lai, 50, and Sit, 65, who were also charged by the ICAC for their involvement in the case, were today convicted of a joint charge of public servants conspiring to accept advantages after trial.
The magistrate adjourned their case until October 13 for sentence, pending background reports. The trio was remanded in the custody of the Correctional Services Department.
The prosecution was today represented by prosecuting counsel Diana Cheung, assisted by ICAC officer Ellen Tong.
Ip Ping-chuen, 51, was jailed for three months by Deputy Magistrate Ms Amy Chan Wai-mun, while Lam Kwok-choi, 63, received a jail term of five months.
Ip and Lam were also ordered to pay $54,000 and $51,600 respectively as restitution to the government.
Ip earlier pleaded guilty to two counts of public servant conspiring to accept advantages, contrary to Section 4(2)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and Section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance. Lam admitted one count of similar offence.
The court heard that at the time of the offences, Ip and Lam were mortuary attendants of the Mortuary Unit of Tuen Mun Hospital.
When Ip was posted to the hospital in April 2005, another mortuary attendant Shing Keung-foo told him that some funeral service providers had offered advantages to them.
In return, they arranged for the funeral service providers to claim and remove dead bodies from the hospital before office hours, and took extra care of the dead bodies.
Shing also said he would collect the bribe payments offered by the funeral service providers, and share the monies with other mortuary attendants on a monthly basis.
Having agreed to join the scam, Ip shared the corrupt proceeds with Shing, Lam and two other mortuary attendants –'96 Lai Chi-wai and Sit Man-kui. Each month, Ip got around $4,000.
Between 1997 and 2006, Lam had got several hundred dollars per month from Shing and Lai as rewards for cleaning the rubbish left over by the funeral service providers after removing the corpses.
As a result, Ip and Lam received a total of over $100,000 in bribes from the funeral service providers, the court was told.
Shing, 55, Lai, 50, and Sit, 65, who were also charged by the ICAC for their involvement in the case, were today convicted of a joint charge of public servants conspiring to accept advantages after trial.
The magistrate adjourned their case until October 13 for sentence, pending background reports. The trio was remanded in the custody of the Correctional Services Department.
The prosecution was today represented by prosecuting counsel Diana Cheung, assisted by ICAC officer Ellen Tong.