Trio sentenced for bribery and disclosing identity of person under ICAC probe
2018-10-5
Three persons, charged by the ICAC, were today (October 5) sentenced at the West Kowloon Magistracy for bribery in relation to the handling of credit facilities of a client at a bank and disclosing the identity of a person under its investigation respectively.
Leung Siu-lun, 32, former vice president of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC), and Mickey Chu Kong, 45, sole director cum shareholder of Alpha Games China Limited (AGCL), were each jailed for nine months.
Leung’s mother Tsang Kam-fung, 57, a then supervisor of Wilson Parking (Holdings) Limited (WPHL), was sentenced to one month’s imprisonment, suspended for one year.
In sentencing, Magistrate Edward Wong Ching-yu ordered Leung to make a restitution of about $3,000 to HSBC.
Upon applications from Leung and Chu, the magistrate granted them bail pending their appeals against convictions and sentences.
Leung and Chu were earlier found guilty of two joint charges of conspiracy for an agent to accept an advantage, contrary to Section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (POBO) and Section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.
Leung alone was convicted of two charges of agent accepting an advantage, contrary to Section 9(1)(a) of the POBO, while Chu alone was found guilty of two charges of offering an advantage to an agent, contrary to Section 9(2)(a) of the POBO.
Tsang was found guilty of one count of disclosing the identity of a person being investigated, contrary to Section 30(1)(a) of the POBO.
The court heard that at the material time, Leung was a vice president of HSBC working at its business centre in Mong Kok. Chu was the sole director cum shareholder of AGCL and also controlled another company – Princess Margaret China Limited (PMCL).
Since August 2013, AGCL and PMCL had obtained credit facilities of about $45 million and around $2.7 million respectively from HSBC.
Between November 2014 and April 2016, Leung accepted from Chu various advantages as rewards for processing applications for and/or maintaining the credit facilities in relation to AGCL and/or PMCL. Chu offered those advantages to Leung for the same purpose.
The advantages included the favours in terms of three-night accommodation at a hotel in Macao, which cost about $3,000, and one-night accommodation at a hotel in Guangzhou; and the exercise of the right to use a private car and another luxurious car from Chu.
The court heard that the ICAC made an enquiry with WPHL for retrieving the parking records of the luxurious car at a carpark managed by the company during the course of investigation into the bribery case in May 2016.
Tsang was aware that Leung had borrowed from Chu the luxurious car which was parked at that carpark, and suspected that Leung was the subject of such investigation. Tsang then disclosed the matter to Leung.
HSBC and WPHL had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.
The prosecution was today represented by prosecuting counsel Stephen Fong, assisted by ICAC officer Marvin Chow.
Leung Siu-lun, 32, former vice president of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC), and Mickey Chu Kong, 45, sole director cum shareholder of Alpha Games China Limited (AGCL), were each jailed for nine months.
Leung’s mother Tsang Kam-fung, 57, a then supervisor of Wilson Parking (Holdings) Limited (WPHL), was sentenced to one month’s imprisonment, suspended for one year.
In sentencing, Magistrate Edward Wong Ching-yu ordered Leung to make a restitution of about $3,000 to HSBC.
Upon applications from Leung and Chu, the magistrate granted them bail pending their appeals against convictions and sentences.
Leung and Chu were earlier found guilty of two joint charges of conspiracy for an agent to accept an advantage, contrary to Section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (POBO) and Section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.
Leung alone was convicted of two charges of agent accepting an advantage, contrary to Section 9(1)(a) of the POBO, while Chu alone was found guilty of two charges of offering an advantage to an agent, contrary to Section 9(2)(a) of the POBO.
Tsang was found guilty of one count of disclosing the identity of a person being investigated, contrary to Section 30(1)(a) of the POBO.
The court heard that at the material time, Leung was a vice president of HSBC working at its business centre in Mong Kok. Chu was the sole director cum shareholder of AGCL and also controlled another company – Princess Margaret China Limited (PMCL).
Since August 2013, AGCL and PMCL had obtained credit facilities of about $45 million and around $2.7 million respectively from HSBC.
Between November 2014 and April 2016, Leung accepted from Chu various advantages as rewards for processing applications for and/or maintaining the credit facilities in relation to AGCL and/or PMCL. Chu offered those advantages to Leung for the same purpose.
The advantages included the favours in terms of three-night accommodation at a hotel in Macao, which cost about $3,000, and one-night accommodation at a hotel in Guangzhou; and the exercise of the right to use a private car and another luxurious car from Chu.
The court heard that the ICAC made an enquiry with WPHL for retrieving the parking records of the luxurious car at a carpark managed by the company during the course of investigation into the bribery case in May 2016.
Tsang was aware that Leung had borrowed from Chu the luxurious car which was parked at that carpark, and suspected that Leung was the subject of such investigation. Tsang then disclosed the matter to Leung.
HSBC and WPHL had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.
The prosecution was today represented by prosecuting counsel Stephen Fong, assisted by ICAC officer Marvin Chow.