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The following is issued on behalf of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority:
A Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) scheme member pleaded guilty today (April 28) at Kwun Tong Magistrates' Courts for breaching section 43E(1) of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance by making a false or misleading statement in a document to an MPF trustee and was fined $4,000.
According to the prosecution, the defendant Singh Jaspal Gill applied to an MPF trustee on September 6, 2010, for early withdrawal of his MPF accrued benefits on the grounds of permanent departure. Investigation by the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) found that the defendant had provided a false or misleading statement in claiming that he had not previously claimed payment of accrued benefits on the grounds of permanent departure on an earlier departure date.
Separately, the MPFA today obtained at the District Court a judgement for payment of outstanding MPF contributions of $88,160.09 against an employer.
The defendant, Jollybaby International Limited, was ordered to pay the MPFA the sum of $88,160.09, being mandatory contributions in arrears and surcharges payable to its 11 employees.
Meanwhile, the MPFA successfully pursued two claims in the Small Claims Tribunal for some $7,000 on behalf of two employees, who were owed MPF contributions by their employers.
At the Tribunal's hearings today, the two defendants, Au Chi Yuen and Kikuchi Japanese Limited, did not appear. In their absence, the Tribunal ordered them to pay the MPFA the sums of $5,040 and $2,557.42 respectively, being mandatory contributions in arrears and surcharges payable. The amounts awarded will be reimbursed to the employees' MPF accounts as soon as they are received by the MPFA.
The Tribunal also ordered the two defendants to each pay the MPFA a penalty of $5,000, imposed by the MPFA for failing to make MPF contributions for their employees.
The District Court ordered the defendant to pay costs of $930 and the Tribunal ordered the two defendants to pay $169 and $130 respectively as the costs of the claims.
Ends/Thursday, April 28, 2011
Issued at HKT 18:59
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