Six charged with fraud and bribery over sale of milk powder
2012-2-14
Four employees of A.S. Watson Group (HK) Limited (ASW) and two parallel goods traders have been charged by the ICAC with conspiracy to defraud and bribery in relation to the sale of milk powder.
The defendants, who were charged yesterday (Monday), are Wu Ka-keung, 42, Lam Kwok-fai, 36, Anson Ng Ching-kin, 32, all managers of Parknshop; Lau Koon-hung, 40, shop supervisor of Watsons; Cheung Shiu-chor, 51, and Wu Xiankuai, 40, both parallel goods tr aders.
They face a total of 12 charges –'96 four of conspiracy to defraud; four of offering an advantage to an agent, contrary to Section 9(2)(b) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (POBO); and four of agent accepting an advantage, contrary to Section 9(1)(b) of the POBO. The alleged offences took place between January and May last year.
The defendants will appear in Kwun Tong Magistracy at 9:30 am tomorrow (Wednesday) for plea.
At the material times, Parknshop and Watsons, which are divisions of ASW, implemented a policy that each customer was only allowed to purchase three cans of milk powder of several high-demand brands per day.
One of the conspiracy charges alleges that Wu Ka-keung and Cheung conspired with other persons to defraud Parknshop by generating false sales receipts purporting to show that only three cans of milk powder were sold to a customer at any one time, while in fact large quantities of milk powder were sold to Cheung. Lam and Cheung jointly face a similar conspiracy offence.
Wu Ka-keung and Wu Xiankuai have been charged with a similar conspiracy offence, while Ng and Wu Xiankuai face a similar joint charge.
It is alleged that over 4,000 cans of milk powder worth about $750,000 were sold to Cheung and Wu Xiankuai, contrary to the policy of Parknshop.
Cheung alone faces four bribery charges, which allege him of having offered a total of $1,600 to Wu Ka-keung, Lau and other employees of Parknshop and Watsons as rewards for assisting the purchase of milk powder.
The remaining four bribery charges allege that Wu Ka-keung, Lam and Lau accepted a total of about $1,300 from Cheung for the same purpose.
The six defendants were arrested in the ICAC operation codenamed “Sunshine” in May last year.
Parknshop and Watsons had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during the investigation.
The defendants have been released on ICAC bail, pending their court appearance tomorrow.
The defendants, who were charged yesterday (Monday), are Wu Ka-keung, 42, Lam Kwok-fai, 36, Anson Ng Ching-kin, 32, all managers of Parknshop; Lau Koon-hung, 40, shop supervisor of Watsons; Cheung Shiu-chor, 51, and Wu Xiankuai, 40, both parallel goods tr aders.
They face a total of 12 charges –'96 four of conspiracy to defraud; four of offering an advantage to an agent, contrary to Section 9(2)(b) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (POBO); and four of agent accepting an advantage, contrary to Section 9(1)(b) of the POBO. The alleged offences took place between January and May last year.
The defendants will appear in Kwun Tong Magistracy at 9:30 am tomorrow (Wednesday) for plea.
At the material times, Parknshop and Watsons, which are divisions of ASW, implemented a policy that each customer was only allowed to purchase three cans of milk powder of several high-demand brands per day.
One of the conspiracy charges alleges that Wu Ka-keung and Cheung conspired with other persons to defraud Parknshop by generating false sales receipts purporting to show that only three cans of milk powder were sold to a customer at any one time, while in fact large quantities of milk powder were sold to Cheung. Lam and Cheung jointly face a similar conspiracy offence.
Wu Ka-keung and Wu Xiankuai have been charged with a similar conspiracy offence, while Ng and Wu Xiankuai face a similar joint charge.
It is alleged that over 4,000 cans of milk powder worth about $750,000 were sold to Cheung and Wu Xiankuai, contrary to the policy of Parknshop.
Cheung alone faces four bribery charges, which allege him of having offered a total of $1,600 to Wu Ka-keung, Lau and other employees of Parknshop and Watsons as rewards for assisting the purchase of milk powder.
The remaining four bribery charges allege that Wu Ka-keung, Lam and Lau accepted a total of about $1,300 from Cheung for the same purpose.
The six defendants were arrested in the ICAC operation codenamed “Sunshine” in May last year.
Parknshop and Watsons had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during the investigation.
The defendants have been released on ICAC bail, pending their court appearance tomorrow.