The Independent Commission Against Corruption has charged four people in four separate cases for alleged bribery and deception relating to applications for  membership in the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

The four defendants, now on ICAC bail, will appear in Eastern Magistracy at 9.30am tomorrow for mention.

Jockey Club honorary voting member John Terence Hung, a 70-year-old company director, faces one count of agent soliciting an advantage and two of agent accepting an advantage.

In October 2006, Hung was a club voting member and had solicited a loan of $200,000 from a middleman as a reward for proposing a person for a full club membership, and helping expedite her application. He accepted two other loans of $100,000 each from November to December 2006 from the middleman for the same purpose relating to the same application.

Two other defendants, 44-year-old merchant Wong Tak-kin and 39-year-old accountant Jonathan Ng, have been charged for offering an advantage to an agent.

Wong offered $50,000 and $200,000 in June and September 2006 to a steward or a club voting member as rewards for helping or expediting his membership application. Ng had offered $360,000 to a club voting member or members in October 2006 as a reward for helping or supporting his application as a club racing member.

The last defendant, 49-year-old sales manager Lau Pui-fai, faces one count of obtaining services by deception. In April 2006, Lau had dishonestly obtained for himself club membership services by falsely representing the information in his application form for racing membership was true.