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Hong Kong anti-corruption agency charges 2 ex-directors of consultancy with fraud over bogus concrete test results for mega bridge

  • Albert Leung, 64, and Leslie Harry Swann, 70, both formerly affiliated with Jacobs China, appear in court just hours after being arrested by ICAC
  • Pair allegedly obtained HK$1.97 million by deceit between July 2016 and May 2017 as they deliberately concealed fabrication of concrete test results

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The 55km Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge is the world's longest sea crossing. Photo: AFP

Two ex-directors of an engineering consultancy firm face up to seven years in jail after being charged with defrauding the Hong Kong government out of nearly HK$2 million (US$256,400) by allegedly covering up the falsification of test results on the world’s longest sea crossing.

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Albert Leung Wing-keung and Leslie Harry Swann, both formerly affiliated with Jacobs China Limited (JCL), appeared in West Kowloon Court just hours after they were arrested by the Independent Commission Against Corruption on Friday morning.

The charge against the pair alleged that they fraudulently induced the Civil Engineering and Development Department to pay JCL a total of HK$1.97 million between July 2016 and May 2017 by deliberately concealing the fabrication of test results for the strength of concrete used in the multibillion-dollar construction of the 55km Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.

The anti-corruption agency applied for a three-week adjournment to prepare the necessary paperwork to move the case to the District Court, where a maximum jail sentence of seven years applies upon conviction.

Leung, 64, and Swann, 70, were each released on HK$20,000 bail, but were barred from leaving Hong Kong and ordered to surrender all travel documents. Magistrate Amy Chan Wai-mun also warned them against interfering with prosecution witnesses.

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A tour of the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau mega bridge

A tour of the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau mega bridge

The next hearing was scheduled for November 26 at West Kowloon Court.

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