The ICAC yesterday charged the chairman of a Hong Kong body- building association for his alleged roles in a bribery scam that helped a suspended athlete compete at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, and in a government subvention fraud.
Simon Chan Siu-man, chairman of the Hong Kong China Bodybuilding and Fitness Association, faces one count of conspiracy for an agent to accept an advantage and one of fraud. Chan, 39, was released on bail and is scheduled to appear in Eastern Court tomorrow morning.
A person familiar with the case said bodybuilder Andy Wong Kwong-sun, who won a gold medal at the Hong Kong championship in June, and Asian Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation general secretary Paul Chua had been under investigation in relation to the case.
The conspiracy charge alleges that between May 2006 and February 2007, Chan conspired together with Mr Chua and Mr Wong for Mr Chua to accept US$10,000 from Mr Wong.
In return, Mr Chua was said to have shortened or lifted the period of suspension from participation in any bodybuilding competition imposed on Mr Wong, and enabled him to participate in Doha in December 2006.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption found that Mr Wong was banned from any bodybuilding competition for two years after failing a doping test in October 2005 at the Asian Championships in South Korea.