Wan Chai district councillor admits fiddling expenses
A Wan Chai district councillor has admitted he fraudulently inflated his expenses claims and pocketed the difference.
Kennedy Lee Kai-hung, 48, an elected member of the council with Canal Road as his constituency, pleaded guilty in the District Court to fraud and misconduct in public office, an Independent Commission Against Corruption spokesman said.
Deputy Judge Li Wai-chi had earlier dismissed an application to have the case against Lee permanently stayed on the basis that the ICAC had acted beyond its powers in bringing the prosecution.
However, the judge found the commission had acted correctly and Lee had not suffered any prejudice, a spokesman for the commission said.
The prosecution did not pursue a further two charges of fraud against the counsellor.
Deputy Judge Li adjourned the case until today, when Lee's counsel, Wong Ching-yu SC, will offer mitigation against sentence. Lee was granted cash bail of HK$10,000.
The court heard that Lee, a former member of the central committee of the Democratic Party, had overstated the salaries of three of his assistants by more than HK$19,000 in 'operating expenses allowance reimbursement' forms. That deception had led the council's secretariat to grant him the allowance payments between May 2006 and February 2007.
As a member of the council, Lee was provided with the allowance to cover expenses solely related to council duties, including hiring assistants and running ward offices.
While falsely inflating the amount he was paying his assistants between January 2004 and March 2007, Lee was apparently assigning them non-district council duties. Those duties included preparing insurance documents for his private insurance business, the ICAC spokesman said. Lee was a district manager for American International Assurance.
He was arrested and charged by the commission in April last year. He was originally charged with receiving about HK$35,500 more than he was entitled to.
The prosecution was represented by prosecuting counsel Wong Hay-yiu, assisted by ICAC officer Tim So Tak-tim.
