A backhander between a highways official and subcontractor on the Tseung Kwan O-Lam Tin Tunnel has landed them 21 months in jail between them. Photo: Handout
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https://scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3017133/former-highways-department-official-hong-kong-jailed Law and Crime
Former Highways Department official in Hong Kong jailed for accepting HK$50,000 bribe from subcontractor for road project in Tseung Kwan O-Lam Tin Tunnel
- Appeal judge dismisses claims from ex-chief technical officer and subcontractor that DNA on cash was coincidence
- Chan Yiu-wai is sentenced to 10 months in prison, while defendant who offered the bung handed 11-month sentence
A senior government officer has his appeal rejected at the Court of First Instance over his bribery conviction and is to serve 10 months in jail. Photo: Fung Chang
A former senior officer at the Highways Department was jailed for 10 months on Wednesday for pocketing a HK$50,000 bribe (US$6,400) from a subcontractor after losing his appeal.
Ex-chief technical officer Chan Yiu-wai was found guilty last year of accepting an advantage as a public servant, in relation to a HK$2 million road project, after he took the kickback from Cheng Cho-yee in September 2015.
Chan lost his appeal against conviction after the judge rejected the argument it was a coincidence that Cheng’s DNA was found on the notes.
Cheng was sentenced to 11 months in jail after being convicted of offering an advantage to a public servant.
On the day the money was offered, the lower court previously heard, the two crossed the border from Lo Wu just 15 minutes apart from each other.
While no one had witnessed the transaction, Chan later returned to Hong Kong, with an envelope of 50 HK$1,000 notes stained with Cheng’s deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).
On Wednesday, Court of First Instance deputy judge Pang Chung-ping rejected their argument on appeal that Cheng’s traces could have been coincidental.
“[Cheng’s] DNA is left on the envelope used to contain the HK$50,000, the rubber band that held the money together ... and the edges of every single note,” he said.
“The possibility of indirect transfer is non-existent.”
Pang ordered the two defendants, previously on bail, to serve their jail sentences immediately.
The court heard the case related to a project to repair the road running through the Tseung Kwan O-Lam Tin Tunnel, estimated to cost HK$2 million.
Chan joined the Highways Department as a technical officer in 1977 and was promoted to a chief in 2012.
He was supposed to be transferred to another district, so he made the bidding for Cheng just before he left, helping him secure work from the project.
The court heard he lied to a colleague, telling the worker to set aside a budget to pay Cheng’s company after falsely claiming he had consulted staff overseeing the tunnel project.
He then passed the document to his supervisor for sign-off on September 8, 2015, before making the trip to mainland China hours later with Cheng to receive his payment.
They were arrested by the Independent Commission Against Corruption after returning to Hong Kong.