Four more charged by ICAC with $340,000 bribery over international kindergarten K1 admission
2023-5-9
Three parents and a merchant were charged by the ICAC yesterday (May 8) for allegedly offering bribes totalling $340,000 to a then administrator of an international kindergarten for assisting in the admission of four children to K1 class of the kindergarten. The then administrator and 10 other parents had already been charged with bribery by the ICAC.
The defendants are Michelle Wong Mei-suet, 37; Mak Wai-ki, 41; Zhu Shuangye, 33; all parents; and Siu Yu-pong, 45, merchant. Each of them faces one count of conspiracy for an agent to accept an advantage, contrary to section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.
They were released on ICAC bail, pending their appearance at the Shatin Magistrates’ Courts tomorrow (May 10) for mention. The prosecution will apply for transferring the case to the District Court for plea.
ESF International Kindergarten (Wu Kai Sha) (WKSK) accepts admission applications for its K1 classes in each September. At the material time, WKSK’s administrator employed by ESF Educational Services Limited (ESF), Fatima Rumjahn, was responsible for handling the relevant applications. The offences in relation to four K1 admission applications to WKSK for the two school years between 2019/20 and 2020/21 took place between September 2018 and March 2021.
It is alleged that the three parents, Wong, Mak and Zhu, each offered a bribe of $20,000 or $100,000, totalling $140,000, to Rumjahn for causing ESF to offer three K1 placements at WKSK of the two abovementioned school years to their children.
Meanwhile, merchant Siu allegedly offered a bribe of $200,000 to Rumjahn for causing ESF to offer a K1 placement at WKSK of the 2020/21 school year to the daughter of his business partner.
Rumjahn and 10 other parents had already been charged by the ICAC with 14 counts of bribery in another case in June last year. Rumjahn allegedly solicited and accepted bribes totalling over $900,000 from a number of parents for assisting their children’s admission to K1 class of WKSK of the three school years between 2019/20 and 2021/22. Their case was adjourned to July 4 for mention at the District Court. The four defendants in the current case were charged upon the ICAC’s receipt of further legal advice from the Department of Justice recently.
The ICAC reminds parents that they should strictly follow the established procedures when making school admission applications for their children and never offer bribes in exchange for school placements. If parents are asked to pay bribes, they should refuse immediately and report to the ICAC. Meanwhile, kindergartens could refer to the Corruption Prevention Toolkit on Kindergartens’ Operations published by the ICAC for preventive measures.
ESF has rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the cases.
The defendants are Michelle Wong Mei-suet, 37; Mak Wai-ki, 41; Zhu Shuangye, 33; all parents; and Siu Yu-pong, 45, merchant. Each of them faces one count of conspiracy for an agent to accept an advantage, contrary to section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.
They were released on ICAC bail, pending their appearance at the Shatin Magistrates’ Courts tomorrow (May 10) for mention. The prosecution will apply for transferring the case to the District Court for plea.
ESF International Kindergarten (Wu Kai Sha) (WKSK) accepts admission applications for its K1 classes in each September. At the material time, WKSK’s administrator employed by ESF Educational Services Limited (ESF), Fatima Rumjahn, was responsible for handling the relevant applications. The offences in relation to four K1 admission applications to WKSK for the two school years between 2019/20 and 2020/21 took place between September 2018 and March 2021.
It is alleged that the three parents, Wong, Mak and Zhu, each offered a bribe of $20,000 or $100,000, totalling $140,000, to Rumjahn for causing ESF to offer three K1 placements at WKSK of the two abovementioned school years to their children.
Meanwhile, merchant Siu allegedly offered a bribe of $200,000 to Rumjahn for causing ESF to offer a K1 placement at WKSK of the 2020/21 school year to the daughter of his business partner.
Rumjahn and 10 other parents had already been charged by the ICAC with 14 counts of bribery in another case in June last year. Rumjahn allegedly solicited and accepted bribes totalling over $900,000 from a number of parents for assisting their children’s admission to K1 class of WKSK of the three school years between 2019/20 and 2021/22. Their case was adjourned to July 4 for mention at the District Court. The four defendants in the current case were charged upon the ICAC’s receipt of further legal advice from the Department of Justice recently.
The ICAC reminds parents that they should strictly follow the established procedures when making school admission applications for their children and never offer bribes in exchange for school placements. If parents are asked to pay bribes, they should refuse immediately and report to the ICAC. Meanwhile, kindergartens could refer to the Corruption Prevention Toolkit on Kindergartens’ Operations published by the ICAC for preventive measures.
ESF has rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the cases.