ICAC Landmark Case - The Collapse of Cheque-kiting Scheme (Overseas Trust Bank Corruption Case)

The OTB fraud case produced a “dream team” of Hong Kong crime-fighters. It was the first case solved through collaboration between officers from the ICAC and the Police. And it was also the first time that the from both forces together to work under one roof for more than a year. How did they, and their team of professional accountants, get along during that intense 16-month engagement? This historic combination gave rise to some special, and even at times amusing, incidents.

From Embarrassment to Mutual Trust

Policeman: Sir, I’m PC 7324.
ICAC Investigator: Don’t call me ‘sir’, call me by my name! We all address even our chief commander as Tony (Mr Kwok’s given name).
Policeman: Yes, sir!
ICAC Investigator: I’ve told you not to call me ‘sir’, haven’t I?
Policeman: No, sir! You are indeed sir. How can I not call you sir?
ICAC Investigator: … …

This episode, when members from the ICAC and the Police met on the first day of the establishment of the OTB task force, was one of many that went into building a remarkable alliance between law enforcement officers from very different work cultures. Such an encounter sounds somewhat embarrassing, but something even more embarrassing happened during a large-scale arrest operation mounted by the task force shortly afterwards. As people involved in the OTB case were being brought into the ICAC headquarters to be interviewed, the police scontingent lost their way in the labyrinth of the building complex.

The incidents were demonstrative of some initial problems the task force encountered when it started operation. Building up mutual trust among officers from different work cultures within a short period of time was no easy task. What did their commander, Tony Kwok Man-wai, do to weld them into a cohesive, effective crime-fighting force?

Kwok's Interview

“The Dream Team”

Once the objective of fostering a close partnership was set, the rest was easy. The long hours they worked together, for instance, greatly facilitated the building up of a good rapport. It was said that in an a certain operation, one such pair of officers simultaneously produced their warrant cards to the person they were assigned to bring. Their action was so coincidentally synchronised that even the invitee was amazed and ultimately rendered full co-operation.

After the end of the 16-month partnership, the officers were well aware of their counterpart’s professionalism and expertise and close friendships emerged.

Twin Accountants Join the ICAC

The OTB case was more than a partnership only of the ICAC and the Police. Smashing such a complex case was also the result of the commitment of the professional accountants who served as backroom boys. Their support to the task force enabled the investigators to very quickly identify the direction in which they should go.

Twin brothers Sudhir and Anoop Gulab Gidwani were accountants serving in the same firm and were delegated to assist in the examination of OTB’s records.

Sudhir and Anoop vouch for the fact that in private practice they had never come across such challenging and large-scale auditing work.

“We would just scream out whenever we discovered even the smallest clue in those mountains of documents. I can’t tell you how great the satisfaction was, but it’s really overwhelming. The OTB case not only gave us a new experience, but also brought about a turning point in our lives,” Sudhir said, still very excited when talking about those memorable days.

New Investigation Experience

When asked about the pressure of working on such a high profile case, the brothers said they were not under as much pressure as the investigating officers … but they did have to work the same long hours.

“At first, I didn’t understand why they’re so picky. On one occasion they asked as many as two dozen people to verify the issue and filing of a single cheque - the signature appeared clear enoughly. It was not until I became an ICAC officer myself that I realised that all exhibits had to stand up to any ‘test’ before the court would admit them evidence. That’s why we had to be very cautious with the verification process to ensure that the evidence would not be rebutted by the court,” said Anoop.

Their intimate involvement in the case offered them an opportunity to get to know what investigation work was really like and at the same time arouse their interest in it. So much so, that they both later joined the ICAC’s Operations Department and contributed much in cracking a number of major corruption and commercial fraud cases with their professional knowledge. They are now working in the Financial Investigation Section of the Operations Department.