ICAC’s operation ‘Fire Net’: 23 charged for alleged building maintenance corruption involving $6.5m bribes and $520m contracts
2023-9-22
Following ICAC’s operation “Fire Net” taken in January this year netting backbone members of a corruption syndicate in the building management industry, the Commission yesterday (September 21) charged 23 of the arrestees with conspiracy to offer and accept bribes totalling over $6.5 million and conspiracy to defraud in respect of various contracts of grand renovation and other projects of 10 residential and commercial buildings worth a total of around $520 million. The case marks the largest prosecution in relation to building management and maintenance in ICAC’s history.
The 23 defendants, 21 men and two women aged between 38 and 73, are 12 middlemen, one project consultant, five project contractors, three members of Incorporated Owner (IO)/Owners’ Committee (OC) and two staff members of property management companies. All of the defendants were released on ICAC bail, pending their appearance at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts next Monday (September 25) for mention.
They face a total of 11 charges – eight of conspiracy to offer an advantage to an agent and one of conspiracy for an agent to accept an advantage, contrary to Section 9 of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and Section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance; and two of conspiracy to defraud, contrary to the Common Law.
The alleged offences took place between January 2018 and May 2023. It is alleged that three of the defendants, Chong Chun-to, Lam Suet-pin and To Hon-sum, all middlemen and backbone members of the corruption syndicate, had conspired with other middlemen and project contractors in the building management industry to offer bribes to members of IOs/OCs, staff of property management companies and project consultants to frustrate various aspects of building management and maintenance, including the tendering process of grand renovation and lift shaft projects and a property management contract, supervision of a renovation project and release of interim payments.
Meanwhile, the defendants also allegedly committed conspiracy to defraud by inflating quotations of minor works and excluding other potential competitors in the tendering of a lift modernisation project.
The present case involves bribes totalling over $6.5 million concerning various renovation and other projects of 10 residential and commercial buildings, namely five private residential estates, one Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) estate, two private residential buildings, one commercial building and one shopping mall. The relevant contracts worth around $520 million in total while individual contract sum ranges from around $460,000 to over $160 million.
ICAC enquiries revealed that some of the stakeholders rejected the bribes offered by the defendants, while the renovation projects of most of the estates/buildings were yet to be awarded to those involved in this case.
Subsequent to operation “Fire Net”, the ICAC had proactively contacted all relevant stakeholders of the estates/buildings concerned, including IOs, OCs and property management companies, to allow them to take appropriate follow up actions against the projects involved. While corruption enquiries are continuing, the ICAC does not rule out further law enforcement actions and further prosecutions.
Case details
Conspiracy to bribe members of IOs/OCs
About $20m grand renovation project of Hing Tat Mansion (private residential building, Kwun Tong)—Three middlemen Chong Chun-to, Lam Suet-pin and To Hon-sum, and Cheung Kin-wah and Zhan Qingbo, respectively chairman and then member of Hing Tat Mansion’s IO, allegedly conspired together to offer bribes consisting of 10% of the contract sum of the building’s grand renovation project and unspecified sums of money totalling about $2 million to Cheung Kin-wah, Zhan Qingbo and other IO members for securing the building’s grand renovation project and property management contract.
About $162m grand renovation project of Sun Hing Garden (HOS estate, Tai Po)—Two middlemen Lam Suet-pin and To Hon-sum and project contractor Chan Mau-shing allegedly conspired together to offer bribes of about $1.5 million to Sun Hing Garden’s IO members for assisting Shing Shun Construction Limited, which was associated with Chan Mau-shing, to obtain the contract of the estate’s grand renovation project.
About $4m lift shaft project of Healthy Gardens (private residential estate, North Point)—Three middlemen Chong Chun-to, Lam Suet-pin and Ng Tak-ki, and OC member of Healthy Garden Tso Shiu-wai allegedly conspired together to offer bribes of unspecified amount to Tso Shiu-wai and other persons for securing the estate’s lift shaft project.
Conspiracy to bribe staff of property management companies
About $163m grand renovation project of Phase V Greenvale Village of Discovery Bay (private residential estate, Lantau Island)—Five middlemen Chong Chun-to, Lam Suet-pin, Wong Siu-keung, Chan Hok-yam and his wife Cheung Po-yee allegedly conspired together to offer bribes of about $1.5 million to staff of Discovery Bay Services Management Limited (DBSM) for ensuring Greenvale Village’s renovation project to be smoothly conducted.
About $133m grand renovation project of Phase I Beach Village of Discovery Bay (private residential estate, Lantau Island)—Five middlemen Chong Chun-to, Lam Suet-pin, To Hon-sum, Chan Hok-yam and Cheung Po-yee, and project contractor Yeung Wing-sun, director of Hong Dau Construction Company Limited (Hong Dau), allegedly conspired together to offer bribes of about $500,000 to staff of DBSM for securing Beach Village’s grand renovation project for Hong Dau.
About $15.9m grand renovation project of Block 1A of Wonderland Villas (private residential estate, Kwai Chung)—Five middlemen Lam Suet-pin, To Hon-sum, Tam Siu-fu, Chan Chun-kit and Mak Wing-tai allegedly conspired together to offer bribes equivalent to 2% of the project sum of the grand renovation project of Block 1A of Wonderland Villas or about $320,000 to a then senior maintenance engineer of Hong Yip Service Company Limited (Hong Yip) for assisting a project contractor to obtain the contract of the grand renovation project.
Grand renovation project of Tsuen Kam Centre (private residential estate, Tsuen Wan)—Two middlemen Lam Suet-pin and Tam Siu-fu, and Gary Chung Kwok-cheung, chief maintenance engineer of Hong Yip, allegedly conspired together for the latter to accept bribes of about $150,000 for assisting a company to obtain the consultancy contract of the grand renovation project of Tsuen Kam Centre, which was managed by Hong Yip.
Conspiracy to bribe project consultant
About $14.9m air-conditioning improvement project of Hop Yick Commercial Centre (shopping mall, Yuen Long)—Project consultant Chan Yuen-ching, director-cum-shareholder of Property Society International of Architecture Consultant HK Limited, project contractor Yeung Che-fung, general manager of Fai Hung Construction (HK) Co., Limited (Fai Hung), and middleman Billy Yeung Wing-cheong allegedly conspired together to offer bribes of about $600,000 to Chan Yuen-ching for recommending the IO of Hop Yick Commercial Centre and Hop Yick House to release interim payments of an air-conditioning system improvement project to Fai Hung.
Conspiracy to defraud
About $3m consultancy and works contract of lift modenisation project of Winning Commercial Building (commercial building, Tsim Sha Tsui)—Two middleman Chong Chun-to and Yeung Hau-lun, project consultant Chan Yuen-ching, project contractor Ng Chi-yeung, Jekco Elevators Ltd’s (Jekco) director-cum-shareholder, and Poon Chee-ming, Hang Yick Properties Management Limited’s senior property manager, allegedly conspired together to defraud Winning Commercial Building’s IO by dishonestly causing Jekco to be selected as the contractor of the building’s lift modernisation project by excluding other potential contractors to apply for the tender.
About $460,000 minor works of Mount Parker Residences (private residential building, Quarry Bay)—Project contractor Chan Hok-yam, director-cum-shareholder of Plenty Well Engineering Development Limited (Plenty Well) and Plenty Well’s employee Lam Mo-woon conspired together with another person to defraud Mount Parker Residences (Management) Limited (MPR) by making false representations that the amount payable to Plenty Well and an engineering company of Chan Hok-yam’s wife, Cheung Po-yee, for 19 minor works were genuinely incurred, causing MPR to overpay a total of about $76,000.
The IOs/OC and property management companies concerned have rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.
The ICAC has always applied its three-pronged approach of enforcement, prevention and education in fighting corruption in relation to the building management industry. On the prevention front, ICAC recommends owners corporation to prevent corruption through improving system and procedures and adopting effective control and corruption prevention safeguards. In addition to offering corruption prevention advisory services to owners’ corporations, the ICAC also recommends anti-corruption measures for various maintenance subsidy schemes, works with regulatory authorities and professional bodies to issue codes of conduct to the industries and to enhance system control.
The ICAC reminds building owners that building maintenance is a corruption prone area due to its complex procedures. They should actively participate in building management and attend owners’ meetings in person, put in place safeguards in their operations as recommended in the ICAC’s "Building Maintenance Toolkit” or the Urban Renewal Authority’s “Building Rehabilitation Guidebook”, seek support from government departments and relevant public bodies. When inviting tenders, they should join the “Smart Tender Building Rehabilitation Facilitation Services Scheme” or adopt effective measures to reduce risks of corruption.
On the education front, the ICAC has proactively approached building management bodies and encouraged flat owners and residents to stay vigilant against corruption through active participation in building management. In order to enhance stakeholders’ anti-corruption capacity, the ICAC organises a variety of integrity training including seminars and talks for management committee of owner’s corporations, flat owners, property management practitioners and relevant professionals, etc. To achieve greater synergy, the ICAC joins hands with different government departments, professional bodies, regulators and trade associations in organising the integrity training. The ICAC has also produced diversified education resources that cater the needs of various stakeholders. Citizens are welcome to call the Integrity Building Management Enquiry Hotline at 2929 4555 for ICAC services.
List of buildings
Hong Kong Island
Healthy Gardens, North Point
Mount Parker Residences, Quarry Bay
Kowloon
Hing Tat Mansion, Kwun Tong
Winning Commercial Building, Tsim Sha Tsui
New Territories and Island
Sun Hing Garden, Tai Po
Hop Yick Commercial Centre, Yuen Long
Tsuen Kam Centre, Tsuen Wan
Block 1A of Wonderland Villas, Kwai Chung
Phase I Beach Village of Discovery Bay, Lantau Island
Phase V Greenvale Village of Discovery Bay, Lantau Island
List of defendants
Middlemen
1. Chong Chun-to
2. Lam Suet-pin
3. To Hon-sum
4. Ng Tak-ki
5. Wong Siu-keung
6. Chan Hok-yam (also the director-cum-shareholder of Plenty Well Engineering Development Limited)
7. Cheung Po-yee (wife of Chan Hok-yam, also the proprietor of Chun Hin Engineering Company)
8. Tam Siu-fu
9. Chan Chun-kit
10. Mak Wing-tai
11. Billy Yeung Wing-cheong
12. Yeung Hau-lun
Project contractors
1. Chan Mau-shing, associate of Shing Shun Construction Limited
2. Yeung Wing-sun, director of Hong Dau Construction Company Limited
3. Yeung Che-fung, general manager of Fai Hung Construction (HK) Co., Limited
4. Ng Chi-yeung, director-cum-shareholder of Jekco Elevators Ltd
5. Lam Mo-woon, employee of Plenty Well Engineering Development Limited
Members of Incorporated Owner (IO)/Owners’ Committee (OC)
1. Cheung Kin-wah, IO chairman of Hing Tat Mansion
2. Zhan Qingbo, then IO member of Hing Tat Mansion
3. Tso Shiu-wai, then OC member of Healthy Gardens
Staff members of property management companies
1. Gary Chung Kwok-cheung, chief maintenance engineer of Hong Yip Service Company Limited
2. Poon Chee-ming, senior property manager of Hang Yick Properties Management Limited
Project consultant
1. Chan Yuen-ching, director-cum-shareholder of Property Society International of Architecture Consultant HK Limited
The 23 defendants, 21 men and two women aged between 38 and 73, are 12 middlemen, one project consultant, five project contractors, three members of Incorporated Owner (IO)/Owners’ Committee (OC) and two staff members of property management companies. All of the defendants were released on ICAC bail, pending their appearance at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts next Monday (September 25) for mention.
They face a total of 11 charges – eight of conspiracy to offer an advantage to an agent and one of conspiracy for an agent to accept an advantage, contrary to Section 9 of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and Section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance; and two of conspiracy to defraud, contrary to the Common Law.
The alleged offences took place between January 2018 and May 2023. It is alleged that three of the defendants, Chong Chun-to, Lam Suet-pin and To Hon-sum, all middlemen and backbone members of the corruption syndicate, had conspired with other middlemen and project contractors in the building management industry to offer bribes to members of IOs/OCs, staff of property management companies and project consultants to frustrate various aspects of building management and maintenance, including the tendering process of grand renovation and lift shaft projects and a property management contract, supervision of a renovation project and release of interim payments.
Meanwhile, the defendants also allegedly committed conspiracy to defraud by inflating quotations of minor works and excluding other potential competitors in the tendering of a lift modernisation project.
The present case involves bribes totalling over $6.5 million concerning various renovation and other projects of 10 residential and commercial buildings, namely five private residential estates, one Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) estate, two private residential buildings, one commercial building and one shopping mall. The relevant contracts worth around $520 million in total while individual contract sum ranges from around $460,000 to over $160 million.
ICAC enquiries revealed that some of the stakeholders rejected the bribes offered by the defendants, while the renovation projects of most of the estates/buildings were yet to be awarded to those involved in this case.
Subsequent to operation “Fire Net”, the ICAC had proactively contacted all relevant stakeholders of the estates/buildings concerned, including IOs, OCs and property management companies, to allow them to take appropriate follow up actions against the projects involved. While corruption enquiries are continuing, the ICAC does not rule out further law enforcement actions and further prosecutions.
Case details
Conspiracy to bribe members of IOs/OCs
About $20m grand renovation project of Hing Tat Mansion (private residential building, Kwun Tong)—Three middlemen Chong Chun-to, Lam Suet-pin and To Hon-sum, and Cheung Kin-wah and Zhan Qingbo, respectively chairman and then member of Hing Tat Mansion’s IO, allegedly conspired together to offer bribes consisting of 10% of the contract sum of the building’s grand renovation project and unspecified sums of money totalling about $2 million to Cheung Kin-wah, Zhan Qingbo and other IO members for securing the building’s grand renovation project and property management contract.
About $162m grand renovation project of Sun Hing Garden (HOS estate, Tai Po)—Two middlemen Lam Suet-pin and To Hon-sum and project contractor Chan Mau-shing allegedly conspired together to offer bribes of about $1.5 million to Sun Hing Garden’s IO members for assisting Shing Shun Construction Limited, which was associated with Chan Mau-shing, to obtain the contract of the estate’s grand renovation project.
About $4m lift shaft project of Healthy Gardens (private residential estate, North Point)—Three middlemen Chong Chun-to, Lam Suet-pin and Ng Tak-ki, and OC member of Healthy Garden Tso Shiu-wai allegedly conspired together to offer bribes of unspecified amount to Tso Shiu-wai and other persons for securing the estate’s lift shaft project.
Conspiracy to bribe staff of property management companies
About $163m grand renovation project of Phase V Greenvale Village of Discovery Bay (private residential estate, Lantau Island)—Five middlemen Chong Chun-to, Lam Suet-pin, Wong Siu-keung, Chan Hok-yam and his wife Cheung Po-yee allegedly conspired together to offer bribes of about $1.5 million to staff of Discovery Bay Services Management Limited (DBSM) for ensuring Greenvale Village’s renovation project to be smoothly conducted.
About $133m grand renovation project of Phase I Beach Village of Discovery Bay (private residential estate, Lantau Island)—Five middlemen Chong Chun-to, Lam Suet-pin, To Hon-sum, Chan Hok-yam and Cheung Po-yee, and project contractor Yeung Wing-sun, director of Hong Dau Construction Company Limited (Hong Dau), allegedly conspired together to offer bribes of about $500,000 to staff of DBSM for securing Beach Village’s grand renovation project for Hong Dau.
About $15.9m grand renovation project of Block 1A of Wonderland Villas (private residential estate, Kwai Chung)—Five middlemen Lam Suet-pin, To Hon-sum, Tam Siu-fu, Chan Chun-kit and Mak Wing-tai allegedly conspired together to offer bribes equivalent to 2% of the project sum of the grand renovation project of Block 1A of Wonderland Villas or about $320,000 to a then senior maintenance engineer of Hong Yip Service Company Limited (Hong Yip) for assisting a project contractor to obtain the contract of the grand renovation project.
Grand renovation project of Tsuen Kam Centre (private residential estate, Tsuen Wan)—Two middlemen Lam Suet-pin and Tam Siu-fu, and Gary Chung Kwok-cheung, chief maintenance engineer of Hong Yip, allegedly conspired together for the latter to accept bribes of about $150,000 for assisting a company to obtain the consultancy contract of the grand renovation project of Tsuen Kam Centre, which was managed by Hong Yip.
Conspiracy to bribe project consultant
About $14.9m air-conditioning improvement project of Hop Yick Commercial Centre (shopping mall, Yuen Long)—Project consultant Chan Yuen-ching, director-cum-shareholder of Property Society International of Architecture Consultant HK Limited, project contractor Yeung Che-fung, general manager of Fai Hung Construction (HK) Co., Limited (Fai Hung), and middleman Billy Yeung Wing-cheong allegedly conspired together to offer bribes of about $600,000 to Chan Yuen-ching for recommending the IO of Hop Yick Commercial Centre and Hop Yick House to release interim payments of an air-conditioning system improvement project to Fai Hung.
Conspiracy to defraud
About $3m consultancy and works contract of lift modenisation project of Winning Commercial Building (commercial building, Tsim Sha Tsui)—Two middleman Chong Chun-to and Yeung Hau-lun, project consultant Chan Yuen-ching, project contractor Ng Chi-yeung, Jekco Elevators Ltd’s (Jekco) director-cum-shareholder, and Poon Chee-ming, Hang Yick Properties Management Limited’s senior property manager, allegedly conspired together to defraud Winning Commercial Building’s IO by dishonestly causing Jekco to be selected as the contractor of the building’s lift modernisation project by excluding other potential contractors to apply for the tender.
About $460,000 minor works of Mount Parker Residences (private residential building, Quarry Bay)—Project contractor Chan Hok-yam, director-cum-shareholder of Plenty Well Engineering Development Limited (Plenty Well) and Plenty Well’s employee Lam Mo-woon conspired together with another person to defraud Mount Parker Residences (Management) Limited (MPR) by making false representations that the amount payable to Plenty Well and an engineering company of Chan Hok-yam’s wife, Cheung Po-yee, for 19 minor works were genuinely incurred, causing MPR to overpay a total of about $76,000.
The IOs/OC and property management companies concerned have rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.
The ICAC has always applied its three-pronged approach of enforcement, prevention and education in fighting corruption in relation to the building management industry. On the prevention front, ICAC recommends owners corporation to prevent corruption through improving system and procedures and adopting effective control and corruption prevention safeguards. In addition to offering corruption prevention advisory services to owners’ corporations, the ICAC also recommends anti-corruption measures for various maintenance subsidy schemes, works with regulatory authorities and professional bodies to issue codes of conduct to the industries and to enhance system control.
The ICAC reminds building owners that building maintenance is a corruption prone area due to its complex procedures. They should actively participate in building management and attend owners’ meetings in person, put in place safeguards in their operations as recommended in the ICAC’s "Building Maintenance Toolkit” or the Urban Renewal Authority’s “Building Rehabilitation Guidebook”, seek support from government departments and relevant public bodies. When inviting tenders, they should join the “Smart Tender Building Rehabilitation Facilitation Services Scheme” or adopt effective measures to reduce risks of corruption.
On the education front, the ICAC has proactively approached building management bodies and encouraged flat owners and residents to stay vigilant against corruption through active participation in building management. In order to enhance stakeholders’ anti-corruption capacity, the ICAC organises a variety of integrity training including seminars and talks for management committee of owner’s corporations, flat owners, property management practitioners and relevant professionals, etc. To achieve greater synergy, the ICAC joins hands with different government departments, professional bodies, regulators and trade associations in organising the integrity training. The ICAC has also produced diversified education resources that cater the needs of various stakeholders. Citizens are welcome to call the Integrity Building Management Enquiry Hotline at 2929 4555 for ICAC services.
List of buildings
Hong Kong Island
Healthy Gardens, North Point
Mount Parker Residences, Quarry Bay
Kowloon
Hing Tat Mansion, Kwun Tong
Winning Commercial Building, Tsim Sha Tsui
New Territories and Island
Sun Hing Garden, Tai Po
Hop Yick Commercial Centre, Yuen Long
Tsuen Kam Centre, Tsuen Wan
Block 1A of Wonderland Villas, Kwai Chung
Phase I Beach Village of Discovery Bay, Lantau Island
Phase V Greenvale Village of Discovery Bay, Lantau Island
List of defendants
Middlemen
1. Chong Chun-to
2. Lam Suet-pin
3. To Hon-sum
4. Ng Tak-ki
5. Wong Siu-keung
6. Chan Hok-yam (also the director-cum-shareholder of Plenty Well Engineering Development Limited)
7. Cheung Po-yee (wife of Chan Hok-yam, also the proprietor of Chun Hin Engineering Company)
8. Tam Siu-fu
9. Chan Chun-kit
10. Mak Wing-tai
11. Billy Yeung Wing-cheong
12. Yeung Hau-lun
Project contractors
1. Chan Mau-shing, associate of Shing Shun Construction Limited
2. Yeung Wing-sun, director of Hong Dau Construction Company Limited
3. Yeung Che-fung, general manager of Fai Hung Construction (HK) Co., Limited
4. Ng Chi-yeung, director-cum-shareholder of Jekco Elevators Ltd
5. Lam Mo-woon, employee of Plenty Well Engineering Development Limited
Members of Incorporated Owner (IO)/Owners’ Committee (OC)
1. Cheung Kin-wah, IO chairman of Hing Tat Mansion
2. Zhan Qingbo, then IO member of Hing Tat Mansion
3. Tso Shiu-wai, then OC member of Healthy Gardens
Staff members of property management companies
1. Gary Chung Kwok-cheung, chief maintenance engineer of Hong Yip Service Company Limited
2. Poon Chee-ming, senior property manager of Hang Yick Properties Management Limited
Project consultant
1. Chan Yuen-ching, director-cum-shareholder of Property Society International of Architecture Consultant HK Limited
