Duo charged by ICAC for $1.3m bribery over property renovation works jailed for 15 and 14 months, bribes confiscated

A then employee of a property investment company and a renovation works contractor, charged by the ICAC for accepting and offering bribes totalling $1.3 million to show favour in relation to property renovation works, were respectively sentenced to 15 months and 14 months in prison at the District Court today (June 12) while the bribes involved were confiscated.

Mak Wing-chun, 51, then senior property officer of the leasing department of New Estate Company Limited (New Estate), was sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment. Mak had earlier pleaded guilty to four counts of agent accepting an advantage, contrary to section 9(1)(b) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (POBO).

Co-defendant Lee Shing-kan, 76, sole proprietor of Art Land Decoration Co. (Art Land), received a jail term of 14 months. Lee was convicted after trial of four counts of offering an advantage to an agent, contrary to section 9(2)(b) of the POBO.

In sentencing, Judge Mr Clement Lee Hing-nin remarked that clean society is the cornerstone of the rule of law, once this foundation is eroded, fair competition would be undermined. The judge reprimanded Mak for abusing his authority to take bribes, breaching the trust placed in him by his employer and damaging the reputation of the company. The two defendants were equally culpable as Lee acceded to Mak’s bribe solicitations and proactively aided him.

Having considered the mitigating factors, Mak and Lee were respectively jailed for 15 months and 14 months. The Judge also ordered the confiscation of $1.2 million bribes offered to Mak by Lee.

The court heard that New Estate, a property investment company, owned and managed a portfolio of properties in Hong Kong for lease. At the material time, Mak was responsible for arranging and overseeing contractors to conduct renovation works at New Estate’s properties and certifying the completion of such works before releasing payments to contractors.

Between November 2020 and June 2022, New Estate had no internal procurement procedures in place, and inviting quotations or conducting tenders were not required when selecting contractors. During this period, New Estate awarded its renovation works to only two contractors. Art Land, one of these contractors, was awarded most of the renovation projects and received works payments totalling about $26 million over the course of one and a half years.

In mid-June 2022, New Estate’s management began requiring its leasing department to invite companies other than the two existing contractors to bid for renovation works when awarding contracts. While Art Land had been awarded numerous renovation projects, Mak informed its proprietor, Lee, of the new procurement requirements, alerting him that New Estate might have discovered that the cost of its works was far above the prices submitted by new bidders.

The ICAC investigation stemmed from a corruption complaint. It was revealed that on various occasions, Lee had offered bribes totalling $1.3 million to Mak for showing favour to him regarding arrangements and supervision of renovation works. Mak used some of the bribes to settle payments for his newly-purchased residential flat.

New Estate rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.

The prosecution was today represented by prosecuting counsel Bernard Chung, assisted by ICAC officer Timothy Wu.

New Estate rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.

The prosecution was today represented by prosecuting counsel Bernard Chung, assisted by ICAC officer Timothy Wu.

Reference URL: https://www.icac.org.hk/en/p/press/index_id_4968.html

Source industry: Construction