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Hong Kong Housing Officers Arrested in Bribes Scandal
Twelve people, including three housing department staff, were arrested Saturday for alleged conspiracy and bribery offences in connection with two housing projects in Fanling and Tin Shui Wai, graft investigators said Saturday.
A spokesman for the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) said two architects and an assistant clerk of works from the housing department were arrested following allegations they had received advantages from contractors and sub-contractors for lax site supervision.
They were also alleged to have facilitated the awarding of works and the supply of building materials in return for bribes which included free holidays to Thailand and Macao.
The other nine people arrested, aged between 32 and 48, were staff members of the main contractors, sub-contractors and material suppliers.
All 12 were released on ICAC bail pending further enquiries.
The scandal was the latest to hit the troubled housing sector.
In June, Housing Authority chairwoman Rosanna Wong was forced to resign after Hong Kong was hit by a series of building scandals over the past 18 months, including a faulty piling scam at two 34-storey blocks which later had to be demolished.
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