The Independent Commission Against Corruption has charged three subcontractors of the Hong Kong International Airport Third Runway Project with three "foremen" and two construction workers for allegedly soliciting and receiving illegal rebates totaling more than 200,000 yuan from seven scaffolders, carpenters, and iron-setters to assist the other party in being employed by a subcontractor.
The five have been granted ICAC bail and will appear at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts next Monday (September 5).
A total of 13 people have been charged by the ICAC in related investigations so far.
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The defendants, Zhuang Huitao (31 years old), "Foreman" of Dezhu Engineering Co., Ltd.; and Huang Takhou (41 years old), a former construction worker of Dezhu, were charged with a total of 10 counts, namely one of soliciting benefits by an agent and four of being an agent. Accepting an advantage and five counts of conspiracy to cause 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.
One of the defendants charged with intent to obstruct justice
The defendant, Mengzhi Award (45 years old), a former "foreman" of Dezhu, was charged with one count of conspiracy to offer an advantage to an agent and two counts of conspiracy to cause an agent to accept an advantage, contrary to Section 9(2) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance )(a) and section 9(1)(a) and section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.
He was also charged with one count of conspiracy to act with inclination and intent to obstruct the course of justice, contrary to common law and section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.
Defendant Zhou Fuliang (aged 62), a former "foreman" of Dezhu; and Chen Huicheng (28), a former construction worker of Dezhu, were charged with a total of three counts, namely one count of conspiracy to obtain an advantage by an agent and two counts of conspiracy The agent accepts an advantage, contrary to section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption has charged three subcontractors of the Hong Kong International Airport Third Runway Project with three "foremen" and two construction workers for allegedly soliciting and receiving illegal rebates totaling more than 200,000 yuan from seven scaffolders, carpenters, and iron-setters to assist the other party in being employed by a subcontractor.
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The scaffolder was accused of demanding an illegal rebate of 100 yuan per working day
At the time of the incident, Dezhu was the subcontractor of the "Three Runs" project, responsible for recruiting construction workers to carry out various projects, and the recruitment was mainly based on the introduction of construction workers.
Zhuang Huitao, Meng Zhi Award and Zhou Fuliang served as "Foremen", and each led their team of construction workers to carry out scaffolding, carpentry and ironing works on the project site respectively.
Huang Dehou was the scaffolder in Zhuang Huitao's group, and Chen Huicheng was the iron tie in Zhou Fuliang's group.
The first case occurred between June 2020 and March 2022.
The charge alleges that Zhuang Huitao allegedly asked a scaffolder in his team to obtain illegal rebates of 100 yuan per working day, and received illegal rebates totaling more than 18,000 yuan from the scaffolder to help the other side continue to be employed by Dezhu.
Zhuang Huitao and Huang Dehou are also suspected of conspiring with other persons to receive illegal rebates totaling more than 96,000 yuan from three other scaffolders in order to assist them in their employment and continued employment at Dezhu.
The second case occurred between August 2020 and April 2021.
The charge alleges that Mengzhi Award conspired with others to receive illegal rebates totaling more than $66,000 from two carpenters to assist the two carpenters in their employment and continued employment at Dezhu.
One of the conspirators was the then "Foreman" who introduced Mengzhi Award to Dezhu.
Involved in demanding an illegal rebate of 500 yuan per working day from the iron-binder
Mengzhi Award is suspected of offering illegal rebates ranging from RMB 100 to RMB 200 per working day to the "foreman" to assist him in his employment and continued employment at Dezhu.
It was also suspected of conspiring with the "Foreman" to instruct the two carpenters and their team members to make false statements to ICAC officers, claiming that they and other workers had not paid the Mongzhi Award and the "Foreman" .
The third case occurred between November 2020 and February 2021.
The charge alleges that Chen Huicheng was suspected of conspiring with Zhou Fuliang to obtain illegal rebates of 500 yuan per working day from another iron-binder in Zhou Fuliang's team.
In addition, Zhou Fuliang is suspected of receiving illegal rebates totaling 14,000 yuan from the iron-binder to help the other party continue to be employed by Dezhu.
The Airport Authority Hong Kong, the relevant main contractors Sinohydro-China Power Construction-Baohua-CCB Joint Venture and Dezhu provided full assistance during the investigation of the case by the ICAC.
The investigation is still ongoing, and the ICAC will not rule out further arrests and prosecutions.
The ICAC has taken a series of enforcement actions since last year to crack down on the illegal practice of receiving illegal rebates from construction workers.
The ICAC charged nine people with illegal rebates from 16 construction workers in connection with the "Three Runs" project.
After seeking legal advice from the Department of Justice, the ICAC has recently prosecuted five defendants in three separate cases, one of whom has been charged in a similar case earlier.
The former insurance broker of FWD was accused of falsely claiming that the two clients were insured and the commission was more than 250,000 yuan. The ICAC sued the ICAC and sued the Water Supplies Department's mechanic to pay more than 25,000 yuan to the former colleague. Four crimes. The proprietor was involved in the corruption of the airport's three-run contract with 3.8 million yuan. The ICAC detained 30 people for the airport's three-run project.
