Hong Kong's Competition Commission has not ruled out links between at least two bid-rigging syndicates and renovations at Wang Fuk Court, the Tai Po estate destroyed in a fire. Executive director for legal services Lester Lee Hiu-leung told a judge-led committee on Thursday that law enforcement agencies will probe potential fraud in residents' selection of the HK$336 million Prestige proposal, the priciest among 57 bids.
On Thursday, Lester Lee Hiu-leung, the Competition Commission’s executive director for legal services, told a judge-led committee investigating the Wang Fuk Court fire that the watchdog has not ruled out links between at least two bid-rigging syndicates and the renovation project at the Tai Po estate. Will Power Architects Company served as consultant and Prestige Construction and Engineering as contractor for the works, with residents selecting Prestige's HK$336 million proposal—the most expensive among 57 options—prior to the blaze. Lee said law enforcement agencies would investigate whether anyone committed fraud by inducing residents to choose that bid. The commission has also not ruled out seeking damages from Will Power and Prestige via the Competition Tribunal. He noted that while the Wang Fuk Court project was included in a formal complaint filed to the tribunal on Wednesday—involving eight companies and 12 individuals across 11 housing estates and buildings—Will Power and Prestige were not named in it. “We hope the public will be patient with us,” Lee told the hearing.
