Taxi drivers tell of indecent assaults

Prince of White Flower Oil faces Eastern Court on two charges

Two taxi drivers told a court yesterday how businessman Stephen Gan Fock-wai, known as the Prince of White Flower Oil, laid his hand on their thighs and private parts in separate assaults in 2007 and 2003.

In both cases, Gan, 46, chief executive officer of Pak Fah Yeow International, hailed the cabs late at night alone and sat in the front seat.

Gan, who gained fame as the public face of his family business in all advertisements for its popular products, pleaded not guilty yesterday to two counts of indecent assault. He said he thought the driver in 2007 consented to his behaviour and he could not recall the 2003 incident.

Both drivers, whose names were ordered suppressed, told Eastern Court similar accounts of Gan hailing them in Causeway Bay, acknowledging his celebrity, asking them to make detours, then laying his hands on their thighs and private parts while they drove with both hands on the steering wheel.

The 2007 driver, a 34-year-old married man, said Gan sat next to him during a 40-minute drive between Causeway Bay, Tai Hang and Tin Hau after he picked him up in Yiu Wa Street at 3.45am on October 10.

Gan put the back of his right hand on the driver's left thigh on and off while holding a HK$100 note and later a HK$500 note, saying it was a token of thanks for the ride home. The driver said he did not take the notes.