Hong Kong’s anti-corruption watchdog has arrested 14 people, including a senior manager of a listed cleaning services company, on suspicion of bribery over the awarding of various contracts to subcontractors, and seized watches valued at more than HK$10 million (US$1.3 million).
While the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) did not name any companies, the Post learned that one of them is Hong Kong Johnson Holdings.
Hong Kong Johnson Holdings said on Thursday night in a filing to the city’s stock exchange operator, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, that the ICAC had raided the company’s office the previous day and arrested a member of senior management and two other employees.
It added that the senior manager was not a board member and that all three had been suspended until further notice.
According to the ICAC, the 14 suspects, comprising six men and eight women aged between 24 and 57, also included the proprietors and employees of three subcontractors.
The subcontractors had allegedly offered advantages in exchange for contracts to provide services to the commercial sector, including supplying vehicles and performing other related maintenance work for the listed company.
The suspects had allegedly breached the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and were also suspected of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering.
“During the operation, ICAC officers conducted searches at multiple locations, including the offices of the listed company and the subcontractors, as well as the residences of the arrested individuals, seizing various items, including approximately HK$1 million in cash and a large number of watches,” the watchdog said.
“The watches seized, with an estimated value amounting to over HK$10 million, are suspected to have been used to launder the bribes and crime proceeds concerned.”
The ICAC found that one of the arrested employees from the listed company had allegedly bought three residential properties through a family member, partly funded by HK$8 million provided by one of the subcontractor proprietors.
Established in 1979, Hong Kong Johnson Holdings provides cleaning and related facility management services, and employs more than 13,000 people.
-- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
