Commission Against Corruption, Macao SAR

The CCAC has broken a case of alleged corruption involving the private sector. Six suspects, including two from Hong Kong and four from Mainland China, were arrested. One of them was a management staff of a construction company in Macao.

According to intelligence obtained, the CCAC suspected that a senior staff of a local construction company took advantage of his position to receive illicit advantages in the recruitment of construction workers, contrary to the rules of the company.

The CCAC commenced an investigation and searched evidence subsequently and arrested six suspects in an operation last week. The evidence showed that the senior staff recruited workers from Mainland China via five non-residential foremen and solicited around MOP2,000 to 4,000 from each of the candidates as entry requirement. The act has allegedly violated the rules of the company and the stipulation of Paragraph 1 of Article 3 of the law Prevention and Suppression of Bribery in the Private Sector.

During the investigation, the CCAC discovered that some people, by using the excuse that the construction project was done on outsource basis, deducted MOP50 per day and part or all bonus of every non-residential worker, claiming that the money was the guarantee that they would not be laid off arbitrarily and the fee for assigning them better duties. These acts have allegedly constituted fraud. It was also discovered that some people had kept the ATM cards and passwords of the non-residential workers' payroll accounts. In addition, someone had threatened the workers with violence or dismissal and forced them to pay a certain amount of money every month. Such acts have allegedly constituted menace.

The case involves around 70 non-residential workers who were solicited for entry fee and suffered from deduction of wage and bonus. The sum of money amounted around MOP700,000 in total. During the investigation, some people have confessed to the relevant facts. The case has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office, while the CCAC continues to investigate into the relevant facts and search evidence.