Six people have been charged for fraudulently inflating the number of electronic transactions with Government departments on a website to help its operator fulfil a contract requirement.

The defendants are ESD Services Chief Operating Officer Tony Ma, 38, former ESD Services Marketing General Manager Marian Lam, 36, ESD Services Assistant Manager Wan Yuk-yin, 31, Event Elite Production & Promotion Director Lee Chun-man, 26, Event Elite Public Relations Manager Lee Shu-lun, 25, and Event Elite Account Executive Cherry Wong, 24.

They will face charges for six offences at Eastern Magistracy on November 18 - one of conspiracy to defraud, two of forgery, two of using a false instrument, and one of possessing equipment for making a false instrument.

ESD Services was awarded an agreement by the then Information Technology & Broadcasting Branch, now known as the Communications & Technology Branch, to set up and maintain a website for the public to make electronic transactions with Government departments. Event Elite was subcontracted to promote the service.

Under the agreement, ESD Services was required to meet a certain number of chargeable transactions in order to receive a monthly subscription fee and a unit transaction fee from the branch.

Ma, Lam, Wan, Wong and the two Lees are alleged to have falsely represented that more than 82 people had made 81,341 bookings of Leisure & Cultural Services Department sporting facilities via the Internet, and paid for them.

Wan and Lee Shu-lun are accused of making false documents purported to be quotations from two companies in relation to promoting the Internet service. Lee Chun-man is accused of having a portable hard disk drive containing the false quotations, which to his knowledge was designed for making the false instruments.

The alleged offences took place between January and September last year.