A joint operation by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and police has led to the arrest of 42 individuals, dismantling a corrupt scheme involving triad infiltration of the city's building maintenance industry.
The investigation began in mid-2025 after the ICAC received corruption complaints alleging that a project consultancy firm was helping construction contractors secure lucrative building maintenance contracts through bribery.
Investigations revealed that the project consultancy firm, which had allegedly secured consultancy contracts of various building maintenance projects at unreasonably low fees, had engaged triad members as middlemen to manipulate the tendering process of the projects through corrupt means.
The ultimate goal was to ensure favored contractors could secure high-priced maintenance contracts from residential estates.
In a coordinated crackdown codenamed "Scabbard" on March 26 and 27, the ICAC and police targeted the criminal syndicate's activities.
During the operation, the ICAC arrested 10 men, aged between 28 and 61. The arrestees include the proprietor and a registered inspector from the project consultancy firm, several middlemen with triad backgrounds, the owners of two project contractors, and a director of a property management company.
ICAC officers also conducted searches at 22 locations, including offices of the project consultancy firm and project contractors, as well as residences of the arrestees. Voluminous exhibits were also seized, including documents relating to the building maintenance projects, as well as banking and accounting records.
Initial findings by the ICAC suggested that the companies involved in the present case might have fabricated accounting records to cover up dubious incomes and expenses.
The police launched raids at multiple locations in the New Territories believed to be controlled by the abovementioned individuals with triad backgrounds, shutting down two unlawful Mahjong dens and an illegal baccarat gambling den.
In these police raids, a total of 32 people—14 men and 18 women, aged between 30 and 75—were arrested for offenses including "operating gambling establishments" and "gambling in any place not being a gambling establishment."
