A former member of the Tai Po District Council (DC), charged by the ICAC, was today (Friday) sent to jail to serve his five-month prison term after the Court of First Instance dismissed his appeal against conviction of making false claims of about $500,000 from the Tai Po DC Secretariat.

This morning a report concerning the criminal investigation into allegations made against Mr Timothy Tong Hin-ming, former Commissioner of the ICAC, was tabled before the independent Operations Review Committee (ORC) which oversees all ICAC investigations for consideration. The ORC was informed that pursuant to legal advice given by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), no criminal proceedings against Mr Tong would be initiated, and of the reasons for the decision. After considering the report and the legal advice, the ORC endorsed the recommendation that no further investigative action in relation to suspected criminal offences would be taken by the ICAC.

The ICAC today (Wednesday) makes the following statement in relation to the 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released by the Transparency International (TI), which ranks Hong Kong the 18th least corrupt place among 168 countries/territories: In the 2015 CPI, Hong Kong’s score has improved by one point from 74 in 2014 to 75 in 2015. Notwithstanding the slight drop in the ranking of one place, the improvement in the overall score indicates that Hong Kong’s corruption situation has remained stable, without any sign of deterioration. The community continues to be served by a clean civil service and businesses continue to enjoy a level playing field.

A former senior supervisor of a licensed money lender, who was charged by the ICAC, admitted at the Kowloon City Magistracy today (Monday) that he had accepted illegal commissions totalling $27,000 in relation to referral of two loan applicants, and conspired with his subordinates to defraud the money lender of wages.

Two former senior staff members of a charitable organisation appeared in the Eastern Magistracy today (Wednesday) after being charged by the ICAC with misappropriating funds totalling over $600,000 from the organisation, fraud, perversion and possessing false instruments.

A registered elector has been charged by the ICAC today (Wednesday) for allegedly committing a voting offence at the 2015 Rural Representative (Resident Representative) Election for Tai Tong in Yuen Long.

Hong Kong remained an internationally acclaimed clean and fair city with a very low level of corruption, even with more graft reports reaching the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in the past year, said the Advisory Committee on Corruption (ACOC) Chairman Mr Chow Chung-kong.

Four persons, including two staff members of an elderly centre, appeared in the Tuen Mun Magistracy today (Thursday) after being charged by the ICAC with conspiracy to defraud the Yuen Long District Council (DC) of allowances totalling about $19,000.

Candidates running for the 2016 Legislative Council (Legco) By-election (New Territories East Geographical Constituency) are urged to tap on educational resources provided by the ICAC, including a comprehensive booklet highlighting the relevant legal provisions, to avoid breaching the law inadvertently.

A registered voter, who was charged by the ICAC, was today (Monday) sentenced to six weeks’ imprisonment at the Kowloon City Magistracy for committing a voting offence at the 2011 District Council (DC) Election.