Lau Ho-kei, the sole director and shareholder of Helpful Engineering Company Limited, has been ordered to forfeit HK$680,000 in criminal proceeds after admitting a conspiracy to obtain Water Supplies Department service fees using false reservoir-inspection records. The Regional Court made the order on 21 September 2026, after Lau had received a 21-month prison sentence for the offence.
The forfeiture application was made by the ICAC under section 8 of the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance. After considering the circumstances of the case and Lau’s realizable assets, the court ordered the sum to be forfeited.
The case arose from work carried out between July 2020 and June 2022, when Helpful Engineering was subcontracted to inspect about 40 service reservoirs in the eastern New Territories and maintain their safety and facilities. The Water Supplies Department required specified three-person teams to inspect the reservoirs daily, prepare inspection reports and attach photographs taken during the work.
The ICAC investigation found that the required inspections were not carried out during the relevant period. Lau instructed employees to photograph reservoir facilities, alter the dates and times shown on the photographs and use them to prepare matching daily reports. Employees were also told to create false duty records claiming that three-person teams had carried out the inspections every day.
Those reports and records were submitted to the Water Supplies Department to obtain service fees. Lau, who was 45 at the time of the proceedings, admitted one count of conspiracy to defraud and was sentenced on 18 November 2025.
He must comply with the forfeiture order within six months of 21 September 2026. Failure to do so could result in an additional 20-month sentence.