Hong Kong court convicts ex-director of engineering firm for defrauding government over bogus test results for mega bridge
- Albert Leung becomes most senior figure held liable for fraudulent practices at laboratory monitoring quality of concrete used in Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge
- Judge acquits his Jacobs China Limited colleague, Leslie Harry Swann, after finding he had no knowledge of efforts to cover up bogus test results
Albert Leung Wing-keung, a former operations director of Jacobs China Limited (JCL), became the most senior figure to be held liable for the fraudulent practices at a testing laboratory set up to monitor the quality of concrete used in the multibillion-dollar construction of the 55km-long (34 mile) Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.
District Judge Ada Yim Shun-yee on Saturday found Leung guilty of fraud, highlighting his deliberate omission made to authorities in 2016 and 2017 after the latter was made aware of the abnormal test results from the lab in Siu Ho Wan on Lantau Island.
The judge told West Kowloon Court that Leung must have had prior knowledge of the fact that lab workers had either substituted genuine concrete specimen cubes with iron piles or cubes of higher compressive strength, or changed computer dates when compiling reports.
She rejected Leung’s defence that he chose not to report the irregularities to the Civil Engineering and Development Department because he genuinely believed the case did not involve an element of dishonesty after he sought legal advice.
“I consider and find the only irresistible inference is that [Leung] knew any right-minded person would consider anyone under a duty to disclose the simulated tests irregularity to [the department] but did not, was dishonest,” Yim wrote in a 66-page judgment.
“[Leung] by deceit with intent to defraud [the department], deliberately concealed the simulated tests’ irregularity.”
The judge acquitted divisional director Leslie Harry Swann after finding he was excluded from an internal investigation by JCL and therefore had no knowledge of the concealment before the government launched an inquiry.
Leung was denied bail ahead of next Friday’s sentencing hearing, but prison officers allowed him to speak with and hug his family members before being taken to the Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption prosecuted the two former directors in 2021 over a breach of a consultancy agreement between JCL and the department, which dictated they had to report errors in the performance of services.
The anti-corruption watchdog informed the department of its findings on the lab’s falsified test reports shortly after the latter paid JCL more than HK$1.97 million for its satisfactory performance.
The department was forced to spend an extra HK$58 million to review nearly 400,000 test reports and reconduct testing at 221 locations on the bridge and on 1,355 concrete samples.
The court previously convicted 19 lab workers for either defrauding the government or using false documents in relation to the case. All were jailed for between eight and 32 months on fraud-related charges.
Fraud is punishable by 14 years’ imprisonment, but is capped at seven years when the case is heard in the District Court.
