Court Orders HK$680,000 Confiscation in Waterworks Fraud
Bastillepost · 4 SOURCESabout 4 hours ago5 MIN
Summary
The District Court on September 21 granted an ICAC application to confiscate HK$680,000 in criminal proceeds from Lau Ho-kei (劉浩基), the sole director and shareholder of Chun Choi Engineering Company Limited, after he admitted conspiring to defraud the Water Supplies Department with false reservoir inspection reports. Lau had earlier been sentenced to 21 months' imprisonment on November 18, 2025, and must satisfy the confiscation order within six months or face an additional 20 months in jail.
Key Points
- The confiscation order was made by District Court Judge Tam Sze-lok on September 21 after prosecutors applied under section 8 of the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance.
- Lau, aged 45 in three reports, was the only director and shareholder of Chun Choi Engineering, a subcontractor assigned to inspect about 40 service reservoirs in the New Territories East.
- ICAC said Chun Choi staff were instructed to alter photo timestamps and prepare false daily inspection reports and duty records to suggest compliant three-person patrols.
- The underlying scheme ran from July 2020 to June 2022, when Ming Hing Waterworks & Drainage Engineering Limited held two term contracts from the Water Supplies Department.
- Lau admitted one count of conspiracy to defraud involving about HK$2.4 million, while another report said the four defendants induced payments totaling about HK$4.6 million to the subcontractor.
Why It Matters
The order shows that punishment in public-works fraud cases can extend beyond prison to recovery of assets judged to be criminal proceeds, tightening the financial consequences for contractors and subcontractors. For Hong Kong readers, the case also underlines the importance of reliable inspection records in water infrastructure maintenance and the ICAC's continued use of confiscation powers first organized through a dedicated asset-recovery team set up in 2010.