The corruption watchdog said on Wednesday that it charged five people for allegedly offering bribes relating to renovation projects at three housing estates worth about HK$90 million in total.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) said its joint operation with the Competition Commission, codenamed “Shotgun”, has resulted in the successful crackdown on a crime syndicate suspected of engaging in manipulating tendering processes through bribery and bid-rigging.

The five people facing charges – including three middlemen – are aged between 42 and 70 and face seven counts of offering an advantage to an agent and one count of conspiracy to offer an advantage to an agent.

In one of the cases, two of those charged were suspected of conspiring to bribe a member of the owners' group at Yan Tsui Court in Chai Wan to help certain contractors secure a renovation contract that was eventually worth about HK$39 million.

The bribes were rejected and the relevant contractors were not chosen for the project.

In another case, the ICAC alleged that an unspecified number of casino chips and renovation services were offered to a member of the owners' group for Kwai Chung's Victory Garden in hopes of securing work for certain consultants and contractors for the major renovation project there.

These bribes were rejected and other firms were eventually awarded the project worth more than HK$21 million.

The last case involved Hoi Tao Building in Kennedy Town.

The ICAC said investigations are ongoing and it does not rule out the possibility of more prosecutions.


Edited by Aaron Tam