The District Court has convicted three senior cleaning company executives for their roles in a fraud to deceive the Leisure & Cultural Services Department over its contract cleaning workers' wages.

Yu's Tin Sing Enterprise general manager Yu Lai-yin, 42, contract manager Ng Lam-tim, 51, and district manager So Mun-yu, 28, were each found guilty on one count of conspiracy to defraud.

Deputy Judge William Ng adjourned sentencing to January 21, pending background reports. Yu was granted bail of $150,000 in cash, while Ng and So were allowed cash bail of $80,000 and $50,000. They were ordered not to leave Hong Kong.

In December 2003, Yu's Ting Sing was awarded a contract to provide cleansing services in Leisure & Cultural Services Department-managed recreational sites in Kwun Tong District. The contract stipulated workers' monthly pay should not be less than $5,081.

Workers underpaid

Independent Commission Against Corruption's probe revealed the trio had made false statements in the wages monthly returns submitted to the department, covering up the workers' underpayment.

Believing that Yu's Tin Sing had complied with the contract terms, the department was misled into paying the contract fees for the months of January and February 2004, totalling over $1.3 million, to Yu's Tin Sing.