Estate Major Renovation | Innovia Garden, Harbour Green Tower, and Prosperity Garden Projects Involve Corruption; ICAC Prosecutes 5 Individuals

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has charged five people with corruption related to major building maintenance projects. The cases involve three estates: Chai Wan Yim Chui Court, Kennedy Town Seaview Building, and Kwai Chung Yisheng Garden, with a total project value of about HKD 90 million. The case was heard this morning at the Eastern Magistrates’ Court.

Earlier, ICAC and the Competition Commission launched a joint operation codenamed “Hunter” and successfully dismantled a criminal group suspected of manipulating building maintenance tenders through bribery and bid-rigging.

ICAC charged four men and one woman, aged between 42 and 70, with a total of eight offenses, including seven counts of offering benefits to estate owners’ corporation members and owners’ representatives, and one count of conspiracy to offer benefits.

Yim Chui Court’s former owners’ corporation secretary involved in conspiracy to bribe

The first case alleges that Cheung Kong Quen and Yim Chui Court’s former owners’ corporation secretary, Chow Suk-ha, conspired between September 2022 and February 2023 to offer an undisclosed bribe to a corporation member to help a contractor linked to Cheung Kong Quen secure a major maintenance contract for the estate. The corporation member refused the bribe and did not assist the contractor in obtaining the contract.

At the time, the owners’ meeting approved awarding the HKD 39 million maintenance contract to Chi Fu Construction (Group) Limited, but this decision was later overturned at another owners’ meeting. Chow Suk-ha was working for a company owned by Cheung Kong Quen at the time and was not an owner or resident of the estate when she served as the owners’ corporation secretary.

Bribery involving Seaview Building owners’ representative to block contractor

The second case involves the major maintenance project at Seaview Building. Initially, residents approved awarding the HKD 31 million contract to Cheung Lee Construction, but some owners later petitioned the Lands Tribunal to overturn this decision. The three related charges allege that Zheng Guohuan and Jiang Baocai, between October 2022 and February 2024, each offered an undisclosed “lai see” (red envelope) and two bribes of several thousand and 500,000 HKD respectively to a Seaview Building owners’ representative to persuade other owners to stop opposing the contract award to Cheung Lee, and to facilitate an out-of-court settlement of the tribunal case.

The owner’s representative refused the bribes and did not assist the two men. The residents who petitioned the Lands Tribunal to overturn the decision ultimately won the case.

Four instances of offering casino chips to Yisheng Garden owners’ corporation member to secure contract

The third case involves four charges against Wong Siu-yuk, who allegedly offered casino chips of unspecified value and renovation services worth about HKD 50,000 to a Yisheng Garden owners’ corporation member between July 2020 and April 2024. These offerings aimed to help the project consultants and contractors recommended by Wong secure the estate’s major maintenance consultancy and construction contracts.

The owners’ corporation member did not accept the benefits offered by Wong and did not assist the consultants or contractors in obtaining the contracts. The maintenance consultancy contract for Yisheng Garden was ultimately awarded to Hung Yi Architects Limited, and the main construction contract was awarded to Chun Ho Construction Engineering Limited, with a value exceeding HKD 21 million.