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The following is issued on behalf of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority:
Two Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) scheme members were convicted today (October 11) and fined a total of $24,000 at the Kwun Tong Magistracy for breaching section 43E(1) of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance by making false and misleading statements in documents to MPF trustees.
Defendants Lai Wan Hei Ian and Li Kim Man were fined $18,000 and $6,000 respectively.
According to the prosecution, Lai Wan Hei Ian applied to three trustees on December 7, 8 and 9, 2009, for early withdrawal of his MPF accrued benefits on the ground of permanent departure. Investigation by the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) found that the defendant had recklessly provided false statements of permanent departure but in fact he did not depart from Hong Kong permanently. The defendant was fined $6,000 for each summons, totalling $18,000.
The other defendant, Li Kim Man, applied to the trustee on November 11, 2009, for early withdrawal of his MPF accrued benefits on the ground of permanent departure. Investigation by the MPFA found that the defendant had recklessly provided false and misleading statements in claiming that he had not previously claimed payment of accrued benefits on the ground of permanent departure on an earlier departure date.
Meanwhile, an officer and three employers were fined a total of $191,000 at the Kwun Tong Magistracy today after being convicted of offences under the Ordinance.
Chan Yat Choy Ivan, officer of Everise Water Technology Limited, was charged for offences under sections 7A(8) and 44 of the Ordinance and pleaded guilty to 30 counts of failing to make MPF contributions for an employee within the prescribed time for the contribution periods between July 2003 and April 2005, and between October 2005 and May 2006. The defendant was fined $3,000 for each summons, totalling $90,000.
Lau Yam Shing Simon trading as Cosmos Travel Co was charged for an offence under section 7A(8) of the Ordinance and pleaded guilty to 21 counts of failing to make MPF contributions for an employee within the prescribed time for the contribution periods between March 2008 and November 2009. The defendant was fined $2,000 for each of the first eight summonses and $4,000 for the remaining summons, totalling $68,000.
Ho Sai trading as Ka Chung Construction Co was charged for an offence under section 7A(8) of the Ordinance, pleading guilty to three counts of failing to make MPF contributions for an employee within the prescribed time for the contribution periods between August and October 2009. The defendant was fined $4,000 for each summons, totalling $12,000.
Dialink Limited was charged for an offence under section 7(1) of the Ordinance and fined $6,000 for the summons for failing to enrol an employee in an MPF scheme as required by the Ordinance.
Dialink Limited was also charged for an offence under section 7AA(7) of the Ordinance. The defendant pleaded guilty to five counts of failing to make MPF contributions to the MPFA for an employee who was not a member of a registered scheme within the prescribed time for the contribution periods between October 2009 and February 2010. The defendant was fined $3,000 for each summons, totalling $15,000.
Separately, the MPFA today obtained five orders for payment of outstanding MPF contributions of about $553,000 against five employers in the District Court.
The five employers were Eternal Ethos Limited, Wui Loong Fung Printing Company, Balsam International Limited, Click Marketing Consultancy Limited and Chun hung (Logistics) Warehouse & Transportation Co. Limited. They were ordered to pay the MPFA $262,820.3, $111,782.63, $64,311.76, $63,830.62 and $50,391.39 respectively, being mandatory contributions in arrears and surcharges payable to 28, 13, seven, seven and three employees of the respective defendants.
The amounts awarded at the District Court will be reimbursed to the employees' MPF accounts as soon as they are received by the MPFA. The District Court ordered each defendant to pay the costs of $930.
Ends/Monday, October 11, 2010
Issued at HKT 18:32
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