A SLIPPERY construction manager hatched a plot to divert a company's slime removal payments into his bank account, the District Court heard. Liu Kwok-tung, 43, was said to have arranged for his lover to register herself as the sole proprietor of a firm with an identical name - then to have stolen the company's cheques and cashed them through her account. Liu has pleaded not guilty to theft, alleged to have taken place between August and December 1990. As construction manager of Construction Techniques Limited (CTL), Liu's job allowed him to approve invoice submissions and contract payments between CTL and sub-contractors. In 1989, Yat Hung Construction Engineering Company was the sole sub-contractor responsible for removing slime and moulding mountains at a construction site in Tuen Mun. On December 29, 1989, Liu instructed his lover, Lam Yuen-ting, to register with the Business Registration Office as sole owner of a company called Yat Hung Construction Engineering Company, the court heard. He told her to open a bank account held in the company's name, prosecutor Kwok Wing-lung said. Between August and December 1990, CTL allegedly received invoices from the real Yat Hung for slime removal and other work. Three cheques totalling almost $150,000 were made out at CTL as payment for the work, the court heard. But instead of passing the money to Yat Hung's true proprietor, Liu allegedly passed them on to Ms Lam. She banked the money and later gave it to her lover in the form of cash or personal cheques, the court heard. These Liu had deposited in a private account. The trial continues before Judge Wong.
