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The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) charged two former shareholders of a hotpot restaurant group on Thursday with allegedly conspiring to defraud the company of HK$1.2 million by inflating renovation costs.
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The defendants, Long Chi-fai and Wen Hoi-tik, were released on ICAC bail and are scheduled to appear at Kwun Tong Magistrates' Courts tomorrow for mention.
At the material time, the duo were shareholders of Peach Garden Catering Operation Limited, managing its daily operations, though Wen's shares were nominally held by his wife.
All shareholders, including the two defendants, agreed to inject HK$6.6 million in total into Peach Garden to operate a hotpot restaurant.
Long and Wen took charge of the renovation project, including selecting a contractor and negotiating fees.
Between August 2022 and June 2023, they allegedly falsely claimed that total renovation costs amounted to about HK$4 million and that Long had advanced HK$1.2 million to an engineering company on behalf of Peach Garden.
The ICAC probe, triggered by a corruption complaint, found no evidence that Long made any such payment.
It was alleged that by making the false representations, the two defendants had inflated the costs of the renovation work by HK$1.2 million and shared the money.
The anti-corruption watchdog stated that Peach Garden and the engineering company provided full assistance during the investigation.
