The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) said on Friday that 15 men and six women, aged 30 to 81, were apprehended last week in connection with the case, including suspected core members of the corruption ring.
Among those detained were middlemen, project consultants, contractors and members of incorporated owners groups, some of whom were believed to have ties to triad groups.
The arrests follow a fire in Tai Po that killed at least 161 people in November. The devastating blaze heightened public concern about bid rigging at residential estates and possible corruption in the renovation industry.
While the ICAC did not disclose the names of the housing estates involved in the latest operation, it said that in one project, a contractor allegedly bribed project consultants and certain members of an incorporated owners group through middlemen to secure a contract worth around HK$33 million.
“In another project, which was at the preparatory stage, middlemen had allegedly collected instruments of proxy from flat owners by corrupt means in an attempt to manipulate the incorporated owners of the estate, so that the relevant renovation works contracts could be secured in future,” the agency said.
