The
graft trail proves cold |
 |
In their report to the ICAC, HD
said that they suspected that corruption among the Yuen
Chau Kok site staff might lie behind the non-compliance.
Zen Pacific in their turn stated that acceptance of advantages
might be affecting HD's monitoring of the site, because
Hui Hon's site staff had close relationships with HD's
site staff.
With respect to this contention, the site agent
agreed that they had indeed lunched with the site staff
of HD but that all the lunch bills had been properly recorded.
For convenience' sake, these bills would first be settled
by Hui Hon and the HD site staff would later pay $30 for
each meal on a monthly basis.
HD's site staff also admitted to having played mahjong
once with the Hui Hon site staff. They had also twice
visited karaoke bars together, sharing the costs among
them.
The site agent strongly denied having offered any advantages
to HD site staff. Even if the Hui Hon side had sometimes
subsidized lunches, he said, this had nothing to do with
any short piling.
There was insufficient evidence to support the alleged
corruption. The ICAC investigation could still move forward,
however, because, pursuant to Section 10(5) of the ICAC
Ordinance, if an investigation into corruption leads to
a suspicion that other offences (such as conspiracy to
defraud) may have been committed, the ICAC has the legal
power to continue pursuing such a lead.
|
|
|
|