01 Investigation
Written by: Liang Zurao Chen Runnan
2020-08-05 08:07
Last update date: 2020-08-05 08:07At the end of June, the Innovation and Technology Commission announced that it would increase the 500 million yuan "distance business plan" (D-biz) under the anti-epidemic fund to 1.5 billion yuan to subsidize Hong Kong enterprises to purchase IT products to respond to the epidemic. Applicants must obtain quotations from two service providers on their own (not through their agents or contractors), choose the lower quotation, and sign a non-colluding quotation statement.
However, the reporter pretended to be a customer to contact the four technology suppliers. They claimed that they could provide the reporter with the quotation of the second company, suspecting fraud and violating the non-colluding quotation regulations.
Legislative Council Member Lin Zhuoting said that technology suppliers suspected of making false declarations and bid rigging could cause losses to the government, or commit conspiracy to defraud or violate competition regulations. He even pointed out that if the applicant knew about the false quotation, he would also have the opportunity to violate the relevant laws. All three suppliers denied the allegations of providing false quotations, and one supplier did not respond.
According to the advertisement, the reporter contacted at least four suppliers separately as customers, and the other parties indicated that they could provide one-stop service, which included processing D-biz's application documents on behalf of customers and "quoting" to the second supplier. (Photo by Hong Kong 01 reporter)
The 1.5 billion "Remote Business Program" (D-biz) under the Anti-epidemic Fund supports Hong Kong companies to purchase 12 types of IT products to strengthen remote business capabilities, such as online sales and cloud management of documents. Applicants can apply for up to 3 categories of products, and each can receive a maximum of 100,000 yuan, that is, a maximum of 300,000 yuan. The "Grant Application Guide" states that applicants should obtain quotations from two IT suppliers on their own and choose the lowest price. The applicant and the bidder need to sign a non-colluding quotation/tender confirmation.
The four suppliers are all said to be available for the second company to quote
The reporter found that many IT vendors posted advertisements about D-biz online. According to the advertisement, the reporter contacted at least four suppliers separately as customers. The other parties indicated that they could provide one-stop service, including processing the D-biz application documents on behalf of the customer, and "quoting" the second supplier on behalf of the customer. Additional consultant fees will be charged, but the condition is that they must patronize their company.
The "Funding Application Guide" of the Remote Business Program states that applicants need to obtain quotations from two IT suppliers on their own and select the lowest price. The applicant and the bidder shall sign a non-colluding quotation/bid confirmation letter.
The quotation is fictitious and has its own "choose we are (necessary) quotation conditions."
Supplier D staff told reporters that they can provide web design services to applicants and they are also a consulting company. The staff stated that they have one-stop service to handle documents and submit applications, and said that they have sufficient experience to speed up the approval of customer applications. The staff claimed to have applied for government-related technology grants for more than 100 customers, and could also provide quotations for the second company. The staff even pointed out that the consultant fee is waived, "We can do this for a plan! I won't charge you money in the early stage."
Supplier B also said that it could do the quotation for the second company. The reporter asked "Do you have to choose your company (quotation)?", but the staff clearly stated that "If you ask us for the company's quotation (supplier B), but you will hire Other companies, it’s meaningless! Choosing us is based on the (necessary) quotation terms.” Another supplier C stated that it can apply and provide IT services for customers, and the second supplier can also provide free quotation during the process. The reporter asked whether there would be a conflict of interest in the quotation, and the staff responded: "The paper application only applies on your behalf, not our company (in name) to apply for you."
The staff of supplier A said that the amount of subsidy for renting/subscription is added to 3 applications, and the amount of approved subsidy can also increase from 10,000 yuan to more than 80,000 yuan (photo by Hong Kong 01 reporter)
Actively oppose the proposal that the amount of funding applied for one split three can be increased several times
In order to know more details, the reporter came to the office of supplier A in early July and said that he wanted to purchase a remote file system and wanted to hear the details of applying for the D-biz program. Supplier A sent two staff members. The staff pointed out that the amount actually approved by the government was significantly less than the amount applied. For example, the remote file management system is worth nearly 100,000 yuan, but based on the experience of other applicants, only about 1 The subsidy amount of more than 10,000 yuan means that the applicant has to make up about 90,000 yuan.
"Of course it is up to us to handle the quotations (two suppliers) and the non-colluding quotations." The staff claimed that in addition to providing quotations on their behalf, they also opposed to suggesting that if reporters do not want to make up for about 90,000 yuan to purchase a remote file system, they can split the application Three IT service applications for rental/subscription have exhausted the D-biz application limit, including one cloud file system and two other IT systems.
Compared to purchasing a system, there is no need to submit a second company quotation for renting/subscription. They said that after the three rental/subscription subsidy applications are added, the approved subsidy can also increase from 10,000 yuan to more than 80,000 yuan, which is close to the amount of cloud file system purchase. He stated that although he claimed to rent/subscribe to the three systems when he applied to the government, journalists could use the remote file system forever, while the other two systems could be used by journalists for one year during the contract period.
The staff of supplier A said that the amount of subsidy for renting/subscription was added to 3 applications, and the amount of approved subsidy could also increase from 10,000 yuan to more than 80,000 yuan. The picture shows the quotation provided by the supplier for reference.
Three technology suppliers deny allegations
The reporter then inquired with four suppliers, saying that their staff could provide a quotation for the second company, or violated the competition regulations. Suppliers A, B, and C all deny the allegations. Supplier A says that they have never provided a second quotation to their customers or violated the plan without colluding declarations. Most customers use cloud services to apply for D-Biz and do not need to The second offer. Supplier C responded by stating that they are only intermediary companies and will not provide any technological services, nor will they disclose the quotations of other companies to the quoting company. The remaining D Company did not respond.
The "Funding Application Guide" of the Remote Business Program states that applicants need to obtain quotations from two IT suppliers on their own and select the lowest price. The applicant and the bidder shall sign a non-colluding quotation/bid confirmation letter.
The supplier proposes to submit three applications for additional funding
Legislative Council Member Lin Zhuoting said that if the quotation of a technology supplier is preset or false, it has violated the bid-rigging offence of the Competition Ordinance. According to the Competition Ordinance, bid rigging is a serious anti-competitive behavior. Lin pointed out that the technology supplier is suspected of making false declarations and bid-rigging, which could cause losses to the government, or commit conspiracy to defraud or violate competition regulations. If the applicant knew that the supplier was making a false quotation, he would also have the opportunity to violate relevant laws.
Looking through the information, in June this year, the Independent Commission Against Corruption sued an air-conditioning system supplier in a similar case. The defendant accused of conspiring to defraud the government by dishonestly submitting false quotation documents that appeared to be prepared by four engineering companies, thereby causing and inducing the HKPC to approve an applicant company for funding under the Cleaner Production Partnership Project Apply for conspiracy to defraud the government funding of 290,000 yuan.
The non-colluding quotation/tender confirmation stated that bid rigging is a serious violation of competition.
Received five reports of conflict of interest involving collusion
Of the four technology companies, three are service providers on the service provider reference list on the official website of the "Remote Business Program". The "Remote Business Program" Secretariat Productivity Council responded that as of July 10, the bureau had received five reports involving collusion and conflict of interest, and referred the cases to relevant law enforcement agencies or agencies for follow-up . As of July 2, there were 15,054 applications for the program.
D-Biz remote business plan adds 1 billion more than Xue Yongheng clarifies that full funding is not required
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