Fanling Magistracy has jailed 19 stall operators for up to a year for defrauding the Food & Environmental Hygiene Department in the bidding for Tai Po Hui Market stalls.

In 2004 all cooked food stall tenants and their assistants in Tai Po Temporary Market were required to move to the new Tai Po Hui Market in Heung Sze Wui Street, Tai Po. These operators were given priority to bid for the stalls in the new market at a restricted auction held on July 21, 2004.

Between June and July 2004 the defendants pre-allotted among themselves the stalls at the new market prior to the auction and agreed not to bid against each other in the auction. As a result the department leased the stalls to them at low prices.