ICAC & police charge 7 individuals & 2 firms over Wang Fuk Court fire

The Independent Commission Against Corruption and the police have charged two companies responsible for the renovation project of fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po -- the project's structural engineering consultancy firm and the main contractor.

Also facing charges are seven individuals, including directors of both companies, for offences including manslaughter.

The joint investigation team of police and the Independent Commission Against Corruption began looking into possible criminal offences linked to the blaze at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po -- which claimed 168 lives.

Multiple arrests have been made -- now with charges laid.

The case was heard at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts.

Aged between 33 and 60, the seven defendants are linked to project consultancy firm Will Power Architects and Prestige Construction and Engineering Company, the main contractor for Wang Fuk Court's renovation.

Five of them work for Will Power, including director Wong Hap-yin and Ng Yuek, Hung Kwok-wai, Chung So-fan and Li Min.

Two are Prestige directors Hau Wa-kin and Ho Kin-yip. Alongside the two firms, they have been charged with 25 counts including conspiracy to defraud, money laundering and tax evasion.

They allegedly made false statements to the Housing Bureau's independent checking unit and submitted fake litigation records to the owners corporation, resulting in Prestige becoming the sole preferred bidder in the tender evaluation report.

Wong Hap-yin, Ng Yuek and Ho Kin-yip as well as the two firms face another manslaughter charge.

They are supposed to oversee the project but used substandard quality materials in the works with gross negligence in their responsibility, which led to the deadly inferno.

The prosecution has applied to postpone the case and objected to bail applications from all defendants.

The defendants are said to likely pervert the course of justice by disturbing the witnesses -- many of whom are former Will Power Architects employees or ex-subordinates of the defendants. They also hold risks of jumping bail.

Hong Kong has seen multiple accidents with major casualties, leading to manslaughter prosecution due to gross negligence.

They include the overturned KMB bus accident which killed 19 people in 2018. The driver was sentenced to 14 years behind bars.

In the 2012 Lamma Island ferry tragedy which led to 39 fatalities, the captains of two vessels were both charged with manslaughter. One of them was later sentenced to eight years in prison.

Barrister Albert Luk says for manslaughter conviction from gross negligence to be established, the duty of care should exist between the defendant and the deaths. The second element involves whether the defendant's action amounts to gross negligence, including failure to undertake necessary safety measures, and third -- whether the negligence was a substantial cause of the victim's death.