Jobs worth HK$106m subcontracted without informing the government
Four cleaning company managers were jailed yesterday for cheating the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department over contracts worth HK$106 million.
District Court Judge Chua Fi-lan sentenced Ha Kam-kaye, 72, a director and general manager of Wai Hong Waste Management, to eight months and six days for subcontracting cleaning work to three companies without informing the department, and passing off their staff as his own.
Subcontractors Wong Siu-sing, 42, of A&T Service Company, Ng Wai-ming, 39, of Ming Kee Cleaning Services, and Tam Man-kwong, 58, of Wai Shing Cleaning Company, were each given eight months. The three subcontractors and Ha had been convicted of conspiracy to defraud. All had pleaded not guilty.
Judge Chua said a jail sentence was warranted to discourage people from defrauding the department, even though the government did not suffer any actual financial losses.
She said workers in one of the seven contracts were paid less than they should have been. 'The exploitation of ignorance of the workers is simply unjust. That was what the department was guarding against and the bidding system was prejudiced,' Judge Chua said.
She said compensation paid to the workers might be a mitigating factor, but it could not be proved whether all workers were compensated. 'I'm afraid I don't see an exceptional circumstance to prevent an immediate custodial sentence in this case,' Judge Chua said.
