Hong Kong estate that fired the Wang Fuk Court contractor halts its new tender after consultant arrests

The owners' corporation was due to choose among 24 bids for the unfinished repair work on the estate's three blocks. On Friday afternoon it posted an emergency notice: law enforcement had told it that people running repair-related firms were under arrest, so the meeting was off and other arrangements would follow, The Standard reported. Sources cited by the paper said members of Far East Consulting Engineers, the estate's maintenance consultant, were among those detained. The notice gave no new date.

Earlier this year the estate formally dropped Prestige Construction & Engineering, the renovation contractor at Wang Fuk Court, the scene of the deadly fire. Scaffolding has stood at Elegance Gardens for more than a year with no work going on, according to The Standard.

The arrests were the first operation of a joint government task force on bid-rigging in building maintenance. Security Secretary Chris Tang said directors and employees from at least six contractors and 10 consulting firms were among those held. Officials accuse the group, which they say has triad links, of using bribes, ghost bids, forged signatures and intimidation to win 12 repair contracts worth about HK$100 million, aimed at older blocks with many elderly owners, Dimsum Daily reported. Five contracts worth HK$90 million were stopped before work began. The buildings are in five districts, Tuen Mun among them.

All of this is alleged. Dimsum Daily listed the suspected offenses as fraud, forgery, conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to offer or accept advantages. Tang said the government will not publish the full list of affected estates, to protect follow-up work, and will contact each owners' corporation directly.