Rural leader charged in Tung Chung River case
The head of the Tung Chung Rural Committee was among eight people charged yesterday by the ICAC with fraud and perverting the course of justice over the illegal excavation of hundreds of tonnes of boulders from the Tung Chung River on Lantau Island.
All will appear in Tsuen Wan Court today.
Law Kam-fai, 63, rural committee chairman and Wong Yat-wah, 51, operator of Tung Po Engineering, face two joint charges of conspiracy. The first charge alleges the two defrauded the government by making false representations about a flooding problem on the Tung Chung River. The second relates to the theft of rocks.
They are also charged with colluding to remove rocks from the river by dishonestly claiming the rural committee had authorised the carrying out of flood prevention and dredging works. Law and Wong are also jointly charged with one count of unauthorised excavations on government land.
They and six others face a charge of perverting the course of justice. The six are: Li Kwai-mo, 61, vice-chairman of the rural committee; Mok Kwong-ming, 65, rural committee secretary; Fan Chi-ping, 58, Cheung Kwok-kwong, 46, Wong Sing-lam 56, all members of the committee; and Kwok Loi-yau, 47, senior site superintendent of Artscapes (Far East).
All the alleged offences took place between October of last year and February of this year, the ICAC said.
During that period, between 700 and 800 tonnes of boulders were moved from the Tung Chung River to a site near the Disney park at Penny's Bay to beautify an artificial lake.
