Ex-bodybuilding association chairman and athlete jailed for bribery
2010-11-2
A former chairman of a bodybuilding association and a suspended bodybuilding athlete, charged by the ICAC, were today (Tuesday) sentenced at the District Court for their roles in a bribery scam to assist the suspended athlete in competing in the 2006 Doha Asian Games.
Chan Siu-man, 40, former chairman of Hong Kong China Bodybuilding and Fitness Association (HKCBBA), received a jail term of three years; while Chan Yun-to, 44, a bodybuilding athlete, was jailed for 16 months.
In sentencing, Judge Susana D’Almada Remedios said the corruption offences committed by the defendants, which were serious, were not tolerated in a civilised society.
The judge reprimanded Chan Siu-man, a mastermind, for taking advantage of athletes’ zealousness in participating in bodybuilding competitions and using them as money-making machines.
The judge also criticised Chan Siu-man for deceiving an elite training grant and a subvention from the government.
Chan Siu-man and Chan Yun-to were earlier found guilty of a joint charge of conspiracy to offer an advantage to an agent, contrary to Section 9(2)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and Section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.
Chan Siu-man alone was convicted of four other charges –'96 two of conspiracy to offer an advantage to an agent, one of conspiracy to defraud and one of fraud.
The court heard that Chan Yun-to and two other bodybuilding athletes failed doping tests in October 2005 after competing in a bodybuilding championship held in South Korea. The trio was banned from any bodybuilding competition for different periods of ti me.
Between January and December 2006, Chan Siu-man, then chairman of HKCBBA, and Chan Yun-to conspired together with another person to offer a bribe of US$10,000 to Paul Chua, secretary-general of the Asian Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation as a reward for shortening or lifting the period of suspension of participating in any bodybuilding competition imposed on Chan Yun-to, and enabling him to participate in the 2006 Doha Asian Games.
Between January 2006 and May 2009, Chan Siu-man conspired together with another suspended bodybuilding athlete and the above person to offer a bribe of between HK$100,000 odd and $200,000 to Chua for the same reason.
Chan Siu-man also conspired together with a third suspended bodybuilding athlete to offer another bribe of US$10,000 to Chua between May 2006 and February 2007 for the same reason.
The court heard that between April 2007 and May 2009, Chan Siu-man conspired together with a bodybuilding athlete to defraud the Hong Kong Sports Institute of an elite training grant in the total sum of HK$600,000.
Between the end of 2007 and May 2008, Chan Siu-man, with intent to defraud, induced the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) to accept the annual return of HKCBBA for the financial year ended March 31, 2007 as genuine and not to demand a return of subvention totalling over HK$250,000 from HKCBBA to the LCSD, the court was told.
The prosecution was today represented by prosecuting counsel Lisa Yip, assisted by ICAC officer Sarah Wong.
Chan Siu-man, 40, former chairman of Hong Kong China Bodybuilding and Fitness Association (HKCBBA), received a jail term of three years; while Chan Yun-to, 44, a bodybuilding athlete, was jailed for 16 months.
In sentencing, Judge Susana D’Almada Remedios said the corruption offences committed by the defendants, which were serious, were not tolerated in a civilised society.
The judge reprimanded Chan Siu-man, a mastermind, for taking advantage of athletes’ zealousness in participating in bodybuilding competitions and using them as money-making machines.
The judge also criticised Chan Siu-man for deceiving an elite training grant and a subvention from the government.
Chan Siu-man and Chan Yun-to were earlier found guilty of a joint charge of conspiracy to offer an advantage to an agent, contrary to Section 9(2)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and Section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.
Chan Siu-man alone was convicted of four other charges –'96 two of conspiracy to offer an advantage to an agent, one of conspiracy to defraud and one of fraud.
The court heard that Chan Yun-to and two other bodybuilding athletes failed doping tests in October 2005 after competing in a bodybuilding championship held in South Korea. The trio was banned from any bodybuilding competition for different periods of ti me.
Between January and December 2006, Chan Siu-man, then chairman of HKCBBA, and Chan Yun-to conspired together with another person to offer a bribe of US$10,000 to Paul Chua, secretary-general of the Asian Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation as a reward for shortening or lifting the period of suspension of participating in any bodybuilding competition imposed on Chan Yun-to, and enabling him to participate in the 2006 Doha Asian Games.
Between January 2006 and May 2009, Chan Siu-man conspired together with another suspended bodybuilding athlete and the above person to offer a bribe of between HK$100,000 odd and $200,000 to Chua for the same reason.
Chan Siu-man also conspired together with a third suspended bodybuilding athlete to offer another bribe of US$10,000 to Chua between May 2006 and February 2007 for the same reason.
The court heard that between April 2007 and May 2009, Chan Siu-man conspired together with a bodybuilding athlete to defraud the Hong Kong Sports Institute of an elite training grant in the total sum of HK$600,000.
Between the end of 2007 and May 2008, Chan Siu-man, with intent to defraud, induced the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) to accept the annual return of HKCBBA for the financial year ended March 31, 2007 as genuine and not to demand a return of subvention totalling over HK$250,000 from HKCBBA to the LCSD, the court was told.
The prosecution was today represented by prosecuting counsel Lisa Yip, assisted by ICAC officer Sarah Wong.