Taxi association official in court over accusations of bribing five people to vote for Legco candidate in 2016
- The defendant is accused of paying the five people HK$1,000 each to vote for a tech executive running to represent the IT sector
- Two of the alleged recipients of the bribes are also facing charges
An executive committee member for a Hong Kong taxi group bribed a family of four, and one daughter’s boyfriend, to vote for a certain candidate at the 2016 Legislative Council elections, a court heard on Monday.
Li Lam-cheong, who sat on the executive committee of the Taxi Drivers & Operators Association, pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to engage in corrupt conduct by allegedly offering HK$1,000 (US$129) each to Chan Chun-shing, his wife, his two daughters and the elder daughter’s boyfriend between April 27 and September 4, 2016.
The alleged payments were to secure their votes for tech executive Eric Yeung Chuen-sing, who was seeking to represent the information technology functional constituency.
Chan, a member of the taxi association, and his elder daughter, Chan Hiu-tung, also pleaded not guilty to a joint charge with Li, and one charge each of engaging in corrupt conduct during an election for allegedly accepting the HK$1,000.
Chan Chun-shing’s wife, his younger daughter and the elder daughter’s boyfriend have not been charged. The Eastern Court did not hear the details of the purported transactions among the six people on Monday.
But the court did hear that the case involved problematic membership registration with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ (IEEE) Hong Kong Section Computer Society Chapter, whose senior members were able to vote in the IT constituency.
