Property officer and renovation contractor charged as ICAC graft probe reveals conspiracy to defraud

2023-5-4

In the course of a corruption investigation by the ICAC, it was revealed that a then property officer of a property management company and a renovation contractor allegedly conspired together to deceive the Incorporated Owners (IO) of a private residential building in To Kwa Wan into awarding a water pipe replacement project to the contractor by using false quotations. The duo were charged yesterday (May 3).

Lau Cheuk-yan, 41, former property officer of Harbourfield Property Management Limited (Harbourfield), and Chan Kam-wah, 57, director-cum-shareholder of Hing Fat Building Maintenance Company Limited (Hing Fat), jointly face one count of conspiracy to defraud, contrary to the Common Law. Chan further faces five counts of possessing a false instrument, contrary to section 75(1) of the Crimes Ordinance.

The defendants were released on ICAC bail and would appear at the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts tomorrow (May 5) for plea.

At the material time, Harbourfield provided property management service to Sunny Court, a private residential building in To Kwa Wan. Staff of Harbourfield were required to source at least three quotations from its approved contractors before conducting any renovation works worth between $10,000 and $200,000.

In 2021, Harbourfield conducted a quotation exercise for the Sunny Court to select a renovation contractor for a water pipe replacement project. IO of Sunny Court received three quotations via Lau and subsequently awarded the project to Hing Fat, which offered the lowest bid of $70,000.

It is alleged that between March and May 2021, Lau and Chan conspired together to defraud the IO of Sunny Court by falsely representing that the two quotations, except Hing Fat’s, were genuine and issued by two other engineering companies respectively, causing the IO to award the water pipe replacement project to Hing Fat.

The ICAC investigation, which arose from a corruption complaint, revealed that the two engineering companies concerned were not approved contractors of Harbourfiled and had never submitted the two quotations.

It is also alleged that in April 2022, Chan possessed five other false quotations purportedly issued by the two engineering companies to five other buildings, including residential buildings, commercial buildings and a shopping mall.

Harbourfield and the IO of Sunny Court have rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.
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