The Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) has confirmed that a company providing repair and maintenance services at the Macau checkpoint building of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB) reported false information on the number of local employees it had hired, in order to apply to hire more non-resident workers.
The anti-graft body, which also has the function of ombudsman, announced the case in a statement yesterday, which also said that the respective local residents who were fraudulently listed as the company’s employees had “unjustifiably” received the government’s COVID-19-support subsidy of 15,000 patacas last year.
According to the statement, CCAC officials launched an investigation into a complaint filed by someone against the company “in the private sector”. The anti-graft body discovered that the company had reported to the relevant public entities – the Financial Services Bureau (DSF) and the Social Security Fund (FSS) – that it had employed 24 local residents, but CCAC graft busters later discovered that six of them had “abnormal” entry and exit immigration records, which indicated that they “seldom” stayed in Macau during the period of payment due to the social security system, the statement said, adding that one of them never even returned to Macau after leaving the special administrative region in 2015.
Under questioning by CCAC officials, some of the local residents concerned admitted that they had never worked for the company, while some admitted that they had never received any salaries from the company but were still paying their dues to the social security system merely for the purpose of receiving old-age pensions from the government in the future.
According to the statement, CCAC officials have concluded that the company did not really hire the six local residents but had falsely reported them as its employees. The statement said that the anti-graft body is still investigating whether the remaining local residents were really employed by the company.
CCAC officials have concluded that the company committed document forgery, because of which they have transferred the case to the Public Prosecution Office (MP) for further investigation.
Moreover, the statement said, every local “employee” of the company had received the government’s COVID-19-support subsidy of 15,000 patacas last year, because of which CCAC officials have notified the Financial Services Bureau about the cases of at least six local residents who had “unjustifiably” received the 15,000-pataca subsidy.
The CCAC statement underlined that the local government has rolled out numerous support measures to relieve local residents’ financial hardship since the COVID-19 pandemic early last year, warning that residents must report true information when applying for the government’s various subsidies and allowances, and urging them not to break the law by providing any false information.
Relevant entities’ responses
The Financial Services Bureau told public broadcaster TDM yesterday that those found to have provided false information will have to return the subsidies they received to the government.
The Social Security Fund told TDM yesterday that if an employer is found to have paid dues to the social security system for those who have not really been hired, the fund will cancel and return the payments to the respective employers and employees.
The Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) told the public broadcaster that it will cancel some or all of the quotas to hire non-resident workers granted to an employer who is found to have breached rules defined by the law on the hiring of non-resident workers.
This undated file photo from the Public Security Police (PSP) shows the Macau checkpoint building of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB).
