Foreman jailed 15 months for offering bribe to contractor working on Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge
Foreman is sentenced over inducement to cover up inferior materials for cross-border bridge
A senior foreman was jailed for 15 months yesterday for trying to bribe a contractor into accepting substandard materials that were purchased for a bridge construction project linking Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau.
Lee Shu-shan, 44, had pleaded not guilty to offering Shum Po-kit a Macau casino chip worth HK$50,000 on two occasions two years ago. He was convicted of two counts of offering an advantage to an agent.
Lee worked for China Harbour Engineering at the time, while Shum was a staff member of Ove Arup, a firm assigned to inspect the quality of rockfill Lee's company bought, Tsuen Wan Court heard earlier. The rockfill was used to fill up structures that supported artificial islands built at the bridge site.
Magistrate Amy Chan Wai-mun said that in 1999, a man who admitted bribing China Light and Power staff with HK$500 was jailed for three months.
Chan then told Lee: "Your lawyer also agrees [your offence] is serious as the fact of the case involves a massive Hong Kong infrastructure project."
She jailed Lee for 15 months and rejected his application for bail pending an appeal.
Earlier, the court heard that in October 2013, Shum told Lee the rockfill that China Harbour had bought from Win Sino Engineering did not meet standards. Lee offered Shum the chip in question the next day. Shum told him: "Don't be silly. Take it away."
Later that month, Lee offered Shum the chip a second time, saying: "Go there and have fun when you're free." Shum never took the money, the court heard.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption arrested Lee last year after being alerted by Shum and his boss. In a filmed interrogation, Lee told the ICAC he had received the chip from a certain Win Sino employee.
During the trial, defence counsel Yeung Shak-nung had challenged the validity of his client's video interview and the statement he gave under caution, claiming Lee had involuntarily admitted offering Shum the chip after graft-busters floated the possibility of making him a prosecution witness.
The magistrate, however, said Lee appeared to be "talkative" in the interview and seemed to know when to protect himself.
She disagreed with Yeung's suggestion that Lee did not approach Shum deliberately to talk about the infrastructure project.
Chan also dismissed the lawyer's claim that the conversation about having fun in Macau was made merely in a social context. She asked why Lee had to offer the chip if this was the case.
The Development Bureau said contractors must comply with regulations. "Poor performance … will be reflected in their performance reports, which may affect their opportunities for undertaking future public works projects."
