In two law enforcement operations codenamed “Rocket Gun” and “Beacon Tower” mounted this month, the ICAC arrested a total of 148 persons for fraudulently obtaining two types of works-related professional qualifications by allegedly falsifying employment proofs and using corrupt means. It is alleged that the arrestees respectively deceived recognised training course providers (TCPs) of the Labour Department (LD) into issuing professional certificates in relation to excavation works, and deceived the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) into issuing certificates of registration of electrical workers.

The ICAC today (October 22) charged a small house applicant for allegedly conspiring with a developer to sell his “Ding Right” and deceive the Lands Department into granting him a building licence for a small house in Sai Kung.

The ICAC today (October 21) charged a man with allegedly offering $1,000 to bribe a bank staff for opening a business bank account for his company.

A new season of “ICAC Investigators 2024”, jointly produced by the ICAC and the Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB), will be telecast five nights in a row starting from next Monday (October 21) to mark the Commission’s golden jubilee. Adapted from real ICAC investigations to showcase the resilience and professionalism of graft-fighters, the latest production will also see the Commissioner and other senior officers making cameo appearance.

The ICAC yesterday (October 17) charged a former team leader and a former construction worker of a works subcontractor with soliciting and accepting bribes totalling about $98,000 from four newly-recruited formworks workers over the latter’s employment at a Community Isolation Facility construction site on Lantau Island during the pandemic.

The ICAC had charged two former employees of two banks and a mortgage loan referral agent in the past two days (October 15 and 16) for alleged bribery and fraud in relation to referral of loan applications of clients without the banks’ permission and swindling referral fees by making false representations to the banks. The bribe money and agent referral fees involved totally over $34,000.

A property buyer concealed from a bank that the property was leased out, causing the bank not to demand repayment of a mortgage loan of over $8 million granted to her with a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of 80 per cent for meeting the owner-occupied requirement. The property buyer who was charged by ICAC earlier pleaded guilty at the District Court today (October 17).

The ICAC today (October 15) charged two Police Sergeants in separate cases for allegedly making false declarations regarding their personal debts when applying for extension of retirement age, contravening the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (POBO), and defrauding the Hong Kong Police Credit Union (HKPCU) of loans totalling over $590,000 on a number of occasions.

A then installation worker of a project subcontractor of the SkyPier Terminal Ferry Transfer in the Hong Kong International Airport, earlier charged by the ICAC, was today (October 15) sentenced at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts to a jail term of seven months after admitting that he had accepted bribes of about $22,000 from three fellow workers for securing their employment with the subcontractor.

The ICAC will kick start a new round of annual opinion survey next Monday (October 14) to gauge public attitudes towards a probity society and their understanding about corruption.