The four independent advisory committees, responsible for monitoring the work of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in law enforcement, corruption prevention, community education and international cooperation, affirmed the effectiveness of the Commission’s work in the past year and commended the anti-graft agency for its professionalism and dedication in upholding the core value of integrity and the rule of law even in time of difficulties and challenges.

A then manager of a non-governmental organisation (NGO), charged by the ICAC, today (July 5) admitted at the District Court that she had conspired with others to deceive the Education Bureau (EDB) into granting funds totalling over $10 million in relation to applications for organising after-school activities for primary and secondary school students. The offences were revealed in the course of a corruption investigation by the ICAC.

A then councillor assistant was charged by the ICAC last Friday (June 30) for allegedly accepting bribes totalling $4,000 for assisting a singing club in various applications for the use of community halls/centres and facilities in Yuen Long, and deceiving the Home Affairs Department (HAD) into granting fee exemptions to the club.

Two former flight attendants of an airline company, charged by the ICAC, were today (June 30) convicted at the District Court of accepting bribes totalling over HK$66,000 for assisting others to enjoy staff benefits to purchase air tickets at concessionary rates.

A then clerk of a handbag manufacturer, charged by the ICAC, today (June 30) admitted at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts that he had accepted bribes totalling over $400,000 from two employees of a currency exchange company for causing the manufacturer to remit $120 million via the currency exchange company.

A former head of the human resources department of an information technology company, charged by ICAC, was today (June 30) sentenced to seven weeks’ imprisonment at the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts for soliciting bribes from three job applicants for assisting them to obtain a higher monthly salary.

Three former site team leaders of a sub-contractor of the Third Runway Project of the Hong Kong International Airport (Third Runway Project) were charged by the ICAC yesterday (June 28) for allegedly accepting bribes totalling over $800,000 from more than 80 construction workers in relation to their employment with the sub-contractor. One of the trio allegedly accepted bribes of over $700,000, and perverted the course of public justice by instructing workers to make false statements to the ICAC claiming that they had not paid any bribes.

A mortgage loan applicant, charged by the ICAC, was today (June 29) sentenced to 22 months’ imprisonment after admitting at the District Court that she had deceived two financial institutions into granting her two mortgage loans totalling $5.7 million by fraudulent means. The offences were revealed in the course of a corruption investigation by the Commission.

Six directors or proprietors of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) were charged yesterday (June 26) in separate cases after it was revealed in the course of a corruption investigation by the ICAC that they allegedly conspired with others to defraud a bank to approve loans totalling about $19 million to six SMEs through the Special 100% Loan Guarantee (SLG) by making false representations concerning their sales turnovers and employees payrolls.

A logistics subcontractor, charged by the ICAC, was today (June 27) convicted at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts of bribery by inflating delivery fees and returning the differences to a manager of a logistics company as “sweetener” for maintaining a good relationship with the latter and his showing favour to the subcontractor in outsourcing various delivery orders worth totalling about HK$1.7 million.