A former Mos Burger branch manager, his wife and six alleged “phantom workers” have appeared in court after being charged by the city’s corruption buster for allegedly conspiring to defraud the fast-food chain of about HK$680,000 (US$86,670) in wages.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) said on Tuesday that Tsui Hin‑po, former manager of the chain’s Tin Shui Wai branch, and his wife, Chan Wing‑sze, were suspected of falsely representing that the six co‑defendants worked as shop assistants for more than 1,500 days, despite never reporting for duty.
More than half of the wages alleged went to 39-year-old Tsui and his associates.
Tsui, 28-year-old Chan and the six other defendants – Wong Yin‑yau, Cheung Wing‑yee, Cheung Tsz‑him, Cheung Hoi‑wai, Lee Chung‑yuk and Chi Hoi‑ling, aged 24 to 33 – face seven counts of conspiracy to defraud.
Acting principal magistrate Daniel Tang Siu‑hung granted bail and transferred the case to the District Court for plea on September 8.
According to the charges, Tsui, Chan and the others between October 2022 and June 2024 tapped unauthorised smart cards to falsify attendance records, submitted bogus reports and caused Mos Food Hong Kong to pay wages and MPF contributions totalling about HK$740,000.
After receiving the “wages”, about HK$400,000 of the money went to Tsui, Wong and an associate.
The ICAC said its investigation suggested that Tsui and Chan allegedly recruited the six co-defendants to act as phantom workers and be listed as full-time or part‑time shop assistants at Mos Burger’s Tin Shui Wai or Tuen Mun branches.
Tsui allegedly told them that they were not required to report to work but needed to return part of their wages.
At the time of the offence, all six co‑defendants held other jobs and had never worked at the Mos branches, the ICAC said.
Mos Food Hong Kong said it had rendered full assistance to the anti-corruption agency’s investigation. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
