CityU professor gets 4 months and 2 weeks for bribing estate agent over tenancy breach

An associate professor of economics and finance at the City University of Hong Kong has been sentenced to four months and two weeks in jail for offering a HK$1,000 bribe to an estate agent in an attempt to conceal a breach of a tenancy agreement.

The 48-year-old defendant, Du Du, was convicted of offering an advantage at Sha Tin Magistrates’ Courts on Wednesday.

In sentencing, Magistrate Jeffrey Sze Cho-yiu said the defendant had a strong academic background and high qualifications, and noted that corruption offences are widely understood by the public. He added that, having lived in Hong Kong for many years, the defendant could not rely on cultural differences as a justification.

Finding no exceptional circumstances, the magistrate imposed a custodial sentence of four months and two weeks. Du was granted HK$20,000 cash bail pending his appeal against both conviction and sentence.

The court heard that on November 6, 2022, Du offered HK$1,000 to a female property agent from Midland Realty, asking her to conceal his default on a provisional tenancy agreement. The arrangement was intended to help him avoid forfeiting a HK$16,000 deposit as compensation.