Ex-airline ground crew member charged by ICAC gets 20 months’ jail for accepting bribes from human smuggling syndicate

William, as a ticketing officer of a travel agent, without obtaining permission from his employer, solicited and accepted advantages from customers for prioritising the sale of discounted tickets to them.  Both William and the clients who offered the advantages might contravene Section 9 of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (POBO).

Employees of travel agents should always handle customer requests impartially.  William disclosed the upcoming special offers of air tickets to several regular customers while intentionally recommending high-fare tickets to others.  Such an act breached professional integrity and negatively impacted the reputation of the travel agent.  If employees accept advantages to provide preferential treatment, it creates dissatisfaction or complaints from other customers and constitutes a violation of the POBO.

On the other hand, William should exercise prudent financial management and avoid risking his position due to debt, as this could lead to criminal offences. William’s illegal acts could be attributed to his poor financial management, which made him susceptible to financial temptations.  Ultimately, he resorted to taking risks to alleviate his financial burdens.  Employees should always exercise financial prudence to prevent falling into corruption traps.

Although Xenia and Xaviera were good friends, their relationship conflicted with the company’s interest, placing Xenia in a conflict of interest situation.  She prioritised her personal relationship over professional integrity.  By recklessly marking up the prices of other airlines to aid the sales of Xaviera’s tickets, Xenia acted unfairly toward those airlines and jeopardised the credibility of her company.  If the truth was discovered, it may also lead to complaints from the airlines and clients.  Employees should avoid conflict of interest as far as possible and make timely declarations, strictly adhering to internal guidelines.  Otherwise, they may violate the company’s code of conduct or internal guidelines.

Xenia might commit fraud under Section 16A of the Theft Ordinance by overstating the prices offered by other airlines when submitting quotation to the client.  If Xenia, without the permission of her travel agent, abused her position to favour Xaviera while accepting advantages, she might also be liable under the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance.  On the other hand, by deceiving her client with inaccurate information, Xenia breached the trust her company and her client placed on her.  As an employee of the travel agent, Xenia should diligently fulfil her duties and exercise discretion fairly and transparently. 

Sally, a purchasing staff member of an airline company, made use of her office to ask the supplier to inflate the service fee and accepted advantages from the supplier as a reward for assisting the latter in obtaining the cleaning service contract without obtaining the approval of the airline company.  Both Sally and Susan might violate Section 9 of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (POBO).

By inviting Susan to submit a bid for the tendering exercise, Sally found herself in a conflict of interest situation.  Sally intentionally concealed the conflict of interest and made false statements on the conflict of interest declaration form to deceive her company, which might also commit Section 9(3) of the POBO or other fraudulent offences.  If fraudulent acts are involved to conceal conflicts for personal gain or to benefit acquaintances, it may lead to other criminal offences such as deception, fraud, false accounting, etc.

Employees must adhere to the company’s guidelines and procedures when conducting procurement and tendering exercises, including the guidelines on handling conflicts of interest.  Employees should avoid conflict of interest as far as possible and make timely declaration strictly following the internal guidelines.  Otherwise, they may violate the company’s code of conduct or internal policies.