Hong Kong water procurement scandal: arrested couple linked to another alleged fraud
Pair already under investigation for 2022 case unrelated to arrest over contract for supply of bottled water to government, source says
A married couple arrested in Hong Kong over a HK$52.9 million (US$6.8 million) suspected water procurement fraud that targeted the government are already under investigation for allegedly using false documents to obtain trade loans about three years ago, the Post has learned.
Police said on Monday that the man, 61, and woman, 57, were arrested the previous day on suspicion of defrauding the government in connection with a contract to supply drinking water to civil service offices.
A source said records showed the pair were involved in another fraud case in which they were suspected of using false documents to obtain trade loans in 2022. The case is currently being handled by the force’s commercial crime bureau.
Addressing the latest alleged fraud case, Kung Hing-fun, the senior superintendent of the force’s commercial crime bureau, said the couple were the owners of a company that had secured a 36-month water deal, and that a mainland Chinese man was still at large. The Post learned that the company was Xin Ding Xin Trade Co Ltd.
She also said that the deal stipulated supplying bottled water to certain government offices, but the product was sourced from a third-party supplier in Zhangmutou, Dongguan, rather than a Guangzhou-based company as specified in the contract. The Post also learned that the company specified in the contract was Robust (Guangdong).
Wong Chun-yue, the bureau’s chief superintendent, said the Guangzhou company learned from the news that it was named as the supplier in the agreement.