Accepting bribes to act against regulation
A supervising officer of a construction company solicited bribes from a tenderer for leaking out quotation information.
Cover
Image
fade-up
container
Construction company A was planning to carry out a large-scale residential development project on a piece of land in the North East of the New Territories that was owned by the company. The company decided to select a contractor by open tender.
Mr Lee, one of the supervising officers of Company A, was responsible for overseeing the project. By virtue of his position, Mr Lee had access to the business secrets, including the quotation prices offered by other tenderers and recommendations given by the consultancy company.
During the tendering process, Mr Lee arranged to have a meeting with Mr Ho, who was employed by one of the tendering companies. Mr Lee claimed that he could disclose business secrets concerning the project to Mr Ho on the condition that Mr Ho’s company, after winning the contract, would pay him 2.5% of the project construction cost, which would bring him an estimated reward of HK$2 million.
Following disclosure of the bribery scam, Mr Lee was arrested and found guilty of corruption crime.
Case Analysis
By soliciting an advantage and leaking the quotation information to Mr Ho, Mr Lee might have committed an offence under Section 9 of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance. Meanwhile, Mr Ho might also have committed an offence by offering bribes. The section (Section 9) states that:
- an agent (normally an employee) solicits or accepts an advantage without the permission of his principal (normally the employer) when conducting his principal’s affairs or business commits an offence; and
- the person who offers the advantage also commits an offence.
A company should establish a good quotation and tendering system to enable the selection of the best contractor for the job required. A good quotation/tendering system should prevent tender and quotation information from leakage. Quotations or tenders received should not be opened before the deadline to reduce the likelihood of information leakage. Furthermore, the opening of the tenders and quotations should be carried out by at least two persons to prevent tampering with the prices submitted
Construction
Cover
Image
Banner
Image
Details Icon
Image
fade-up
container
Corruption Risks
fade-up
fade-up
container
Examples:
- Compromised staff accept advantages from colluded contractors/ sub-contractors in the course of awarding contracts or works orders.
- Compromised staff accept advantages from colluded suppliers in the course of procuring construction materials.
- Compromised staff leak confidential information (such as tender price information) to competitors for personal gain.
fade-up
container
Examples:
- Compromised staff accept advantages for turning a blind eye to sub-standard works of contractors.
- Unscrupulous contractors provide contract cars for private use by site supervisory staff in return for favourable treatment in site supervision.
- Inspecting staff engage in improper conduct and practices (e.g. acceptance of frequent / lavish entertainment provided by the contractor) while carrying out inspections outside Hong Kong.
- Site supervisory staff accept advantages for allowing contractors to use building materials not specified in contracts or to tamper with test samples.
fade-up
container
Examples:
- Compromised staff accept advantages from contractors in return for early processing and release of payments for incomplete works.
- Compromised staff accept rebates from favoured contractors for issuing unnecessary variation orders or over-valued work orders.
fade-up
container
Examples:
- Unscrupulous site staff solicit advantages (e.g. ‘introduction fees’) from construction workers who seek appointment or continuous employment.
- Compromised staff solicit rebates for allocating jobs to contractors/sub-contractors.
fade-up
container
What is Conflict of Interest?
Examples:
- Chairman of the tender assessment panel has financial interest in a particular tenderer.
- Staff responsible for drawing up the specifications of a construction material tender document is a relative of the sole supplier of the material.
- Project clerk of works has financial interest in a sub-contractor employed by the main contractor under his supervision.
- Project architect and site agent of the contractor are close personal friends.
- Supervisory staff over-socialise with contractors e.g. accept frequent / lavish entertainment or engage in high stake gambling.
Ethics Training
The Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre (HKBEDC) offers free anti-corruption and ethics training to help companies build an ethical corporate culture and prevent corruption and fraud. Check out the details of the upcoming webinars on BEDC Channel and enrol now!
fade-up
Training Objectives
General staff
Alert to corruption temptations in daily work
Enhance knowledge of anti-corruption law
Acquire skills to make ethical decision
Training Objectives
Managers
Alert to managerial role in preventing corruption
Acquire skills to identify and manage corruption risks at daily work
Procure useful tips to manage staff integrity
Training Objectives
Senior Management
Enhance awareness on role of ethical leadership
Alert to common red flags and corruption loopholes
Procure good practices in preventing corruption and building ethical culture
fade-up
container
Contact us should you have further enquiries on arranging anti-corruption or ethics training.
fade-up
fade-up
container
Members of professional bodies may obtain continuing professional development (CPD) hours by attending seminars offered by the HKBEDC.
The following professional bodies have arranged CPD seminars jointly with the HKBEDC:
- Association of Construction Materials Laboratories Ltd
- Hong Kong Institute Of Construction Managers
- Institution of Civil Engineers Hong Kong Association
- Institution of Mechanical Engineers (Hong Kong Branch)
- Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Hong Kong Chapter
- The Chartered Institute of Building (Hong Kong)
- The Hong Kong Institute of Architects
- The Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors
- The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers
- The Hong Kong Institution of Incorporated Engineers
- The Institution of Engineering and Technology Hong Kong
- The Society of Operations Engineers (Hong Kong Region)
Click here to see our upcoming CPD seminars for construction professionals.
fade-up
fade-up
container
- Anti-corruption talks are incorporated in training courses of Hong Kong Institute of Construction.
- Training Video on Illegal Introduction Fee (Cantonese Only):
"Say no to illegal introduction fee" - User-friendly interactive webpage for self-learning:
“It is just not worth it” – Interactive webpage for construction industry
Contact us for more details.
introduction
Corruption in construction fields often results in poor quality of construction work that may put public safety at risk. It leads to extra budget and time for remedial works, resulting in additional construction cost that eats into company’s profit.
The Hong Kong Business Ethics Development Centre offers free anti-corruption and ethics training to help construction practitioners stay alert to corruption risks and uphold high integrity standard. We provide free services and useful resources to help your company guard against corruption and foster an ethical culture.
Showcase Image
Image
Image
Industry Tgas
Homepage Icon
Image
