Restaurant duo charged by ICAC with wage fraud over false attendance of servers
2021-12-28
Two former managers of a restaurant were today (December 28) charged by the ICAC with conspiracy to defraud the restaurant of payments totalling over $45,000 by falsifying the attendance records of four part-time servers.
The ICAC investigation arose from a corruption complaint. Upon completion of the investigation, the ICAC sought legal advice from the Department of Justice, which advised pressing charges against two former managers of Hee Wan Roasted Kitchen (Hee Wan).
Yeung Wing-hung, 41, former manager of Hee Wan; and Lam Wai-hung, 63, former deputy manager of Hee Wan, face four counts of conspiracy to defraud, contrary to Common Law. They were released on ICAC bail, pending their court appearance in the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts on Thursday (December 30) for plea.
At the material time, Hee Wan was operated by Glocal Harvest Investment Limited (Glocal Harvest). Yeung and Lam were responsible for the daily operation of Hee Wan, including hiring part-time servers and preparing their monthly duty roster.
Part-time servers of Hee Wan were required to clock their own attendance cards when they reported on and off duty. Yeung was responsible for collecting their attendance cards at the end of each month for wage calculation by Glocal Harvest.
The charges allege that between April 1 and August 31, 2020, Yeung and Lam conspired together to defraud Glocal Harvest by dishonestly falsely representing that the attendance records of four servers accurately reflected their working hours, thereby inducing Glocal Harvest to release payments calculated in accordance with those attendance records.
ICAC enquiries revealed that Yeung and Lam had allegedly clocked the attendance cards for the above four part-time servers when they were in fact not on duty to deceive Glocal Harvest of payments totalling over $45,000.
Glocal Harvest has rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.
The ICAC investigation arose from a corruption complaint. Upon completion of the investigation, the ICAC sought legal advice from the Department of Justice, which advised pressing charges against two former managers of Hee Wan Roasted Kitchen (Hee Wan).
Yeung Wing-hung, 41, former manager of Hee Wan; and Lam Wai-hung, 63, former deputy manager of Hee Wan, face four counts of conspiracy to defraud, contrary to Common Law. They were released on ICAC bail, pending their court appearance in the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts on Thursday (December 30) for plea.
At the material time, Hee Wan was operated by Glocal Harvest Investment Limited (Glocal Harvest). Yeung and Lam were responsible for the daily operation of Hee Wan, including hiring part-time servers and preparing their monthly duty roster.
Part-time servers of Hee Wan were required to clock their own attendance cards when they reported on and off duty. Yeung was responsible for collecting their attendance cards at the end of each month for wage calculation by Glocal Harvest.
The charges allege that between April 1 and August 31, 2020, Yeung and Lam conspired together to defraud Glocal Harvest by dishonestly falsely representing that the attendance records of four servers accurately reflected their working hours, thereby inducing Glocal Harvest to release payments calculated in accordance with those attendance records.
ICAC enquiries revealed that Yeung and Lam had allegedly clocked the attendance cards for the above four part-time servers when they were in fact not on duty to deceive Glocal Harvest of payments totalling over $45,000.
Glocal Harvest has rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.