HK sales manager pleads guilty to bribery charges

A Hong Kong sales manager has admitted to being guilty of bribery in a case involving Wynn Macau maintenance contracts worth about HK$34 million ($4.3 million).

This change came about after the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) revealed in May 2022 that an employee and a former head of two air-conditioning repair companies were charged with corruption. They were accused of giving bribes of about HK$1.5 million ($191,594) to a former head of a hotel group in exchange for air-conditioning repair contracts worth about HK$22 million ($2.8 million) at a Wynn Macau hotel.

The most recent news says that Li Kin-wang, a 59-year-old senior sales manager at Oh Luen Air Conditioning Equipment Limited (Oh Luen), pleaded guilty to five charges, including fraud. There are three counts of giving an agent an edge and two counts of plotting to give an agent an advantage. The judge put the case off until September 18 and let Li go free on bail.

The ICAC found that Oh Luen and Wai Luen Air-conditioning Limited (Wai Luen) were set up in Macau and Hong Kong to install and maintain air conditioners. Both businesses were owned by the same person. Since 2013, Wynn Resorts (Macau) S.A., which ran hotels and casinos in Macau, had given Oh Luen the green light as a supplier. Li admitted that in 2014, he paid bribes to a Wynn director, who at the time asked for these bribes so that Oh Luen could submit bids or quotes for air conditioning system repair services.

Li admitted that between June 2014 and July 2015, he gave the director three bribes that added up to more than HK$450,000 ($57,477). These bribes came in the form of checks or bank transfers. Also, between November 2016 and January 2017, he worked with the director of Wai Luen at the time to offer the same director two bribes that added up to HK$560,000 ($71,527).

The ICAC’s investigation found that between 2014 and 2017, Wynn gave Oh Luen a number of contracts to maintain air conditioning that were worth a total of about HK$34 million.

The head of Wai Luen, on the other hand, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of conspiring to give an agent an edge. His hearing will start in September at the District Court. During its review of the case, the ICAC got full help from both the Macau Commission Against Corruption and Wynn.

Original story by: Asia Gaming Brief