Duo sentenced for false lifting appliances certificates scam
2012-11-14
An engineer and a technician of a consulting firm, charged by the ICAC, were today (Wednesday) sentenced at the District Court for issuing false lifting appliances and lifting gears (LALG) certificates to defraud clients of the firm and the Labour Departm ent (LD).
Chau Hon-yue, 52, a registered professional engineer employed by ISPL Consulting Limited (ISPL), was jailed for 16 months, while Yip Wai-kit, 35, a technician of ISPL, was sentenced to 240 hours of community service.
In sentencing, Judge Johnny Chan Jong-herng remarked that the offence committed by Chau in his capacity as a professional engineer was of a more serious nature.
The judge said the scam, which spanned three years, was not a single incident, adding that it was too much to have even one casualty should it be caused by a false certificate.
The defendants earlier pleaded guilty to a joint charge of conspiracy to defraud, contrary to Common Law.
The case arose from a corruption complaint. Subsequent ICAC enquiries revealed the above offence.
The court heard that it is a statutory requirement for owners or operators of LALGs to appoint qualified engineers or competent examiners to conduct regular tests and examinations to ensure their LALGs are in good working order. LD officers are responsib le for inspecting the related certificates.
At the material times, ISPL provided LALG owners and operators with such examination services.
In October 2008, Chau, a registered professional engineer, joined ISPL as an engineer responsible for issuing certificates to its clients after examining their LALGs, including tower cranes, crawler cranes, excavators, dozers, hoist machines, chains, rope s and shackles.
The court heard that on various occasions between October 2008 and May 2011, Chau instructed Yip and other employees of ISPL to conduct LALG examinations on behalf of Chau. But none of them were registered qualified engineers or competent examiners.
Yip and the said employees of ISPL visited the construction sites in the absence of Chau to record the particulars of LALGs, such as model and serial numbers, on ISPL’s testing records.
Without conducting any test or examination, Chau signed on the certificates, which were then issued to the LALG owners and operators concerned.
Chau and Yip also caused the LD officers to accept those certificates as genuine records, the court was told.
The prosecution was today represented by prosecuting counsel Thomas Iu, assisted by ICAC officer Andrew Ho.
Chau Hon-yue, 52, a registered professional engineer employed by ISPL Consulting Limited (ISPL), was jailed for 16 months, while Yip Wai-kit, 35, a technician of ISPL, was sentenced to 240 hours of community service.
In sentencing, Judge Johnny Chan Jong-herng remarked that the offence committed by Chau in his capacity as a professional engineer was of a more serious nature.
The judge said the scam, which spanned three years, was not a single incident, adding that it was too much to have even one casualty should it be caused by a false certificate.
The defendants earlier pleaded guilty to a joint charge of conspiracy to defraud, contrary to Common Law.
The case arose from a corruption complaint. Subsequent ICAC enquiries revealed the above offence.
The court heard that it is a statutory requirement for owners or operators of LALGs to appoint qualified engineers or competent examiners to conduct regular tests and examinations to ensure their LALGs are in good working order. LD officers are responsib le for inspecting the related certificates.
At the material times, ISPL provided LALG owners and operators with such examination services.
In October 2008, Chau, a registered professional engineer, joined ISPL as an engineer responsible for issuing certificates to its clients after examining their LALGs, including tower cranes, crawler cranes, excavators, dozers, hoist machines, chains, rope s and shackles.
The court heard that on various occasions between October 2008 and May 2011, Chau instructed Yip and other employees of ISPL to conduct LALG examinations on behalf of Chau. But none of them were registered qualified engineers or competent examiners.
Yip and the said employees of ISPL visited the construction sites in the absence of Chau to record the particulars of LALGs, such as model and serial numbers, on ISPL’s testing records.
Without conducting any test or examination, Chau signed on the certificates, which were then issued to the LALG owners and operators concerned.
Chau and Yip also caused the LD officers to accept those certificates as genuine records, the court was told.
The prosecution was today represented by prosecuting counsel Thomas Iu, assisted by ICAC officer Andrew Ho.