The Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) revealed in a corruption investigation that the former general manager of a pharmaceutical company scammed service fees of HK$1.1 million. Three individuals were sentenced to a maximum of 26 months in prison.

On May 26, the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) issued a statement disclosing an investigation into a former general manager of a pharmaceutical company who falsely claimed that a secretary company under his supervision provided consultancy services, deceiving the pharmaceutical company into paying a total of approximately 1.1 million Hong Kong dollars in service fees. The subordinate's business partner also assisted in money laundering. Three defendants were sentenced to imprisonment ranging from 10 to 26 months today (May 26). Qiu Weichen, 56 years old, former general manager of Kin Huo Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Kin Huo Pharmaceutical), was sentenced to 26 months in prison. His former subordinate Yu Yuantao, 44 years old, former sales clerk of Kin Huo Pharmaceutical and director and shareholder of Kid Services Limited (Kid), was sentenced to 20 months in prison. Both men had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud in violation of Section 16A of the Theft Ordinance. Another defendant in the case, Zhou Boyu, 41 years old, another director and shareholder of Kid, was sentenced to 10 months in prison. He had previously pleaded guilty to a charge of handling property known or believed to represent the benefits of a crime (commonly known as money laundering). When handing down the sentence, Judge Lian Jinshong criticized Qiu Weichen for abusing his position and systematically defrauding his employer of money, which undermined the business environment in Hong Kong. Qiu Weichen had already compensated Kin Huo Pharmaceutical with approximately 770,000 Hong Kong dollars. The prosecution today applied to the court to confiscate the remaining criminal proceeds in the case, totaling approximately 300,000 Hong Kong dollars. The judge approved the prosecution's application, and Qiu Weichen must comply with the confiscation order within six months, or face an additional 14 months of imprisonment. The ICAC had received a complaint of corruption earlier, which led to the uncovering of the above crimes. At the time of the offense, Kin Huo Pharmaceutical distributed and represented pharmaceuticals and health products in Hong Kong and mainland China, while Kid Services was a company providing secretary and accounting services. It was revealed that between February 2017 and May 2022, Yu Yuantao, at the direction of Qiu Weichen, prepared seven invoices issued by Kid, falsely claiming that Kid had provided consulting services to Kin Huo Pharmaceutical, including food nutrition labels, legal requirements, and import and export permits. Qiu Weichen then deceived Kin Huo Pharmaceutical into paying Kid over 530,000 Hong Kong dollars for consultancy services. Qiu Weichen and Yu Yuantao used a similar method to deceive Kin Huo Pharmaceutical's contract advertising agent, Hong Kong Spirit Advertising Limited (Spirit), to help reimburse Kid's expenses. Qiu Weichen falsely claimed to Spirit that Kid had provided consulting services to Kin Huo Pharmaceutical, and stated that Spirit could deduct the relevant fees from the advance payments from Kin Huo Pharmaceutical to Spirit as stated in their annual advertising contract to pay Kid. Between March 2019 and September 2023, Qiu Weichen submitted six invoices issued by Kid to Spirit, deceiving Spirit into helping Kin Huo Pharmaceutical pay Kid over 540,000 Hong Kong dollars for consultancy services. The ICAC investigation revealed that Kid had never provided any services to Kin Huo Pharmaceutical but received a total of approximately 1.1 million Hong Kong dollars in service fees. Zhou Boyu assisted in handling approximately 180,000 Hong Kong dollars of the criminal proceeds, transferring the funds to Qiu Weichen. During the ICAC investigation, Kin Huo Pharmaceutical provided full cooperation. The prosecution was represented in court today by Senior Prosecutors Zhuang Wenxin and Xiao Huiting, with assistance from ICAC officers Pan Zhiwei and Liu Xianjie.