Ex-administrator of international kindergarten and 10 parents charged by ICAC with $900,000 bribery over K1 admission
2022-6-8
The ICAC today (June 8) charged a former administrator of an international kindergarten for allegedly soliciting and accepting bribes totalling over $900,000 from a number of parents for assisting in their children’s admission to K1 class of the kindergarten. A parent rejected the solicitation on the spot while 10 others who had allegedly offered bribes were also charged.
The case involved a total of 13 pupils who made K1 admission applications to ESF International Kindergarten (Wu Kai Sha) (WKSK) for the three school years between 2019/20 and 2021/22. The bribe payment in respect of each placement ranged from $20,000 to $100,000. The 10 parents charged came from eight families.
The ICAC investigation arose from a corruption complaint. Upon completion of the investigation, the Commission sought legal advice from the Department of Justice, which advised laying a total of 14 charges against the 11 defendants. All defendants were released on ICAC bail, pending their appearance in the Shatin Magistrates’ Courts on Friday (June 10) for the case to be transferred to the District Court.
Fatima Rumjahn, 52, former administrator of WKSK employed by ESF Educational Services Limited (ESF), faces a total of 13 charges – eight of conspiracy for an agent to accept an advantage, four of agent accepting an advantage and one of agent soliciting an advantage, contrary to Section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (POBO) and Section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.
The 10 parents, aged between 34 and 44, are Marissa Choy Wai-yin and her partner Lee Chun-long (the Lees); Cora Lam Man-hei and her husband Cheung Ka-ming (the Cheungs); and six mothers – Tsui Wai-him, Kong Ching-men, Julia Wong Wing-man, Vida Lau Ying-kwan (formerly known as Vida Lau Wai-tak), Ma Yin-man, and Li Jiebing.
Lau jointly faces two of the above conspiracy charges with Rumjahn, while the Lees, the Cheungs and the remaining five mothers each jointly face one conspiracy charge with Rumjahn.
Kong further faces one count of inciting an agent to solicit an advantage, contrary to Section 9(1)(a) of the POBO and Common Law.
The offences took place between September 2018 and August 2021. At the material time, Rumjahn was the administrator of WKSK. She was responsible for handling admission applications for K1 classes, which took place annually in September.
The eight conspiracy charges allege that Rumjahn separately conspired with the Lees, the Cheungs, Tsui, Kong, Wong, Lau, Ma and Li for Rumjahn to accept eight bribes totalling over $650,000 for causing ESF to offer eight K1 placements at WKSK of the 2020/21 and 2021/22 school years to the children of the eight families.
Another charge alleges that Kong unlawfully incited Rumjahn to solicit a bribe of a certain sum from Choy for causing ESF to offer a K1 placement at WKSK of the 2021/22 school year to the Lees’ child.
Four other charges allege that Rumjahn accepted four bribes totalling $190,000 from four other mothers for causing ESF to offer four K1 placements at WKSK of the 2019/20 and 2020/21 school years to their children.
The remaining charge alleges that Rumjahn solicited a bribe of $50,000 from another mother for causing ESF to offer a K1 placement at WKSK of the 2019/20 school year to her child. ICAC investigation revealed that the mother rejected the solicitation on the spot.
The ICAC reminds parents that they should never offer bribes in exchange for school placements for their children. If parents are asked to pay bribes in the course of making school admission applications, they should refuse immediately and report to the ICAC. If they are unsure of any requests for fees made by school staff, they should clarify with the school management.
On prevention front, kindergartens should adopt corruption prevention safeguards in and enhance transparency on their operations including student admission process. They may refer to the Corruption Prevention Toolkit on Kindergartens’ Operations for detailed measures, which is available on the ICAC website.
ESF has rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.
The case involved a total of 13 pupils who made K1 admission applications to ESF International Kindergarten (Wu Kai Sha) (WKSK) for the three school years between 2019/20 and 2021/22. The bribe payment in respect of each placement ranged from $20,000 to $100,000. The 10 parents charged came from eight families.
The ICAC investigation arose from a corruption complaint. Upon completion of the investigation, the Commission sought legal advice from the Department of Justice, which advised laying a total of 14 charges against the 11 defendants. All defendants were released on ICAC bail, pending their appearance in the Shatin Magistrates’ Courts on Friday (June 10) for the case to be transferred to the District Court.
Fatima Rumjahn, 52, former administrator of WKSK employed by ESF Educational Services Limited (ESF), faces a total of 13 charges – eight of conspiracy for an agent to accept an advantage, four of agent accepting an advantage and one of agent soliciting an advantage, contrary to Section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (POBO) and Section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.
The 10 parents, aged between 34 and 44, are Marissa Choy Wai-yin and her partner Lee Chun-long (the Lees); Cora Lam Man-hei and her husband Cheung Ka-ming (the Cheungs); and six mothers – Tsui Wai-him, Kong Ching-men, Julia Wong Wing-man, Vida Lau Ying-kwan (formerly known as Vida Lau Wai-tak), Ma Yin-man, and Li Jiebing.
Lau jointly faces two of the above conspiracy charges with Rumjahn, while the Lees, the Cheungs and the remaining five mothers each jointly face one conspiracy charge with Rumjahn.
Kong further faces one count of inciting an agent to solicit an advantage, contrary to Section 9(1)(a) of the POBO and Common Law.
The offences took place between September 2018 and August 2021. At the material time, Rumjahn was the administrator of WKSK. She was responsible for handling admission applications for K1 classes, which took place annually in September.
The eight conspiracy charges allege that Rumjahn separately conspired with the Lees, the Cheungs, Tsui, Kong, Wong, Lau, Ma and Li for Rumjahn to accept eight bribes totalling over $650,000 for causing ESF to offer eight K1 placements at WKSK of the 2020/21 and 2021/22 school years to the children of the eight families.
Another charge alleges that Kong unlawfully incited Rumjahn to solicit a bribe of a certain sum from Choy for causing ESF to offer a K1 placement at WKSK of the 2021/22 school year to the Lees’ child.
Four other charges allege that Rumjahn accepted four bribes totalling $190,000 from four other mothers for causing ESF to offer four K1 placements at WKSK of the 2019/20 and 2020/21 school years to their children.
The remaining charge alleges that Rumjahn solicited a bribe of $50,000 from another mother for causing ESF to offer a K1 placement at WKSK of the 2019/20 school year to her child. ICAC investigation revealed that the mother rejected the solicitation on the spot.
The ICAC reminds parents that they should never offer bribes in exchange for school placements for their children. If parents are asked to pay bribes in the course of making school admission applications, they should refuse immediately and report to the ICAC. If they are unsure of any requests for fees made by school staff, they should clarify with the school management.
On prevention front, kindergartens should adopt corruption prevention safeguards in and enhance transparency on their operations including student admission process. They may refer to the Corruption Prevention Toolkit on Kindergartens’ Operations for detailed measures, which is available on the ICAC website.
ESF has rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.