Housing Officer charged with forgery over $9m HOS re-mortgage loans
2019-3-1
A Housing Officer of the Housing Department (HD) has been charged by the ICAC today (March 1) with forgery by falsifying consent letters for flat owners of a Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) estate to support their applications for re-mortgage loans totalling over $9 million.
Chow Hoi-yip, 32, faces nine charges of forgery, contrary to Section 71 of the Crimes Ordinance.
The defendant will appear at the Shatin Magistracy next Tuesday (March 5) for plea.
The case arose from a corruption complaint referred by the HD. Subsequent ICAC enquiries revealed the above alleged offences.
At the material time, the defendant was the Housing Officer of the Tai Po District Tenancy Management Office under the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA), which managed the HOS estate in Fanling, the New Territories.
Owners of the estate who want to refinance their flats without first paying premiums to the government should obtain a consent letter from the HA before making their re-mortgage loan applications to banks or financial institutions.
To apply for a consent letter from the HA, owners of the estate are required to submit to the HA an application form with supporting documents. Only a Housing Manager of the HD is authorised by the HA to sign consent letters for the Director of Housing. The defendant, being the subordinate of a Housing Manager, was responsible for receiving and processing refinancing applications submitted by owners of the estate.
The charges allege that between November 6, 2014 and November 6, 2015, the defendant made nine false consent letters issued by the HA for refinancing applications genuinely submitted by the owners of nine flats of the HOS estate, with the intention of inducing banks or financial institutions to accept them as genuine.
Believing that the consent letters were genuine, two banks and a financial institution approved the applications from the flat owners and granted them nine re-mortgage loans totalling over $9 million.
The HD has rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.
The defendant has been released on ICAC bail, pending his court appearance next Tuesday.
Chow Hoi-yip, 32, faces nine charges of forgery, contrary to Section 71 of the Crimes Ordinance.
The defendant will appear at the Shatin Magistracy next Tuesday (March 5) for plea.
The case arose from a corruption complaint referred by the HD. Subsequent ICAC enquiries revealed the above alleged offences.
At the material time, the defendant was the Housing Officer of the Tai Po District Tenancy Management Office under the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA), which managed the HOS estate in Fanling, the New Territories.
Owners of the estate who want to refinance their flats without first paying premiums to the government should obtain a consent letter from the HA before making their re-mortgage loan applications to banks or financial institutions.
To apply for a consent letter from the HA, owners of the estate are required to submit to the HA an application form with supporting documents. Only a Housing Manager of the HD is authorised by the HA to sign consent letters for the Director of Housing. The defendant, being the subordinate of a Housing Manager, was responsible for receiving and processing refinancing applications submitted by owners of the estate.
The charges allege that between November 6, 2014 and November 6, 2015, the defendant made nine false consent letters issued by the HA for refinancing applications genuinely submitted by the owners of nine flats of the HOS estate, with the intention of inducing banks or financial institutions to accept them as genuine.
Believing that the consent letters were genuine, two banks and a financial institution approved the applications from the flat owners and granted them nine re-mortgage loans totalling over $9 million.
The HD has rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.
The defendant has been released on ICAC bail, pending his court appearance next Tuesday.