Two former airline staff and three other persons have been charged by the ICAC for their alleged roles in a bribery scam to help travellers from the Mainland to sneak out to overseas countries via the Hong Kong International Airport.

The defendants will appear before Tsuen Wan Magistracy in two separate cases at 9:30 am on Monday (May 24) for mention.

In the first case, two former Customer Services Officers of Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (Cathay Pacific), D1, 30, and D2, 46, are respectively charged with two and four counts of conspiracy for an agent to accept advantages, contrary to Section 9(1)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (POBO) and Section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.

Co-defendants D3, 46; and D4, 62, both unemployed, are jointly charged with D2 in one of the conspiracy charges.

One of the charges allege that D1 had conspired with another former Cathay Pacific employee and other persons for D1 to accept bribes for assisting Mainland travellers arranged by the said former Cathay Pacific staff member to successfully check in their flights.

D1 and D2 are alleged of conspiring together and with other persons for D1 to accept bribes to provide similar assistance to Mainland travellers arranged by D2 or his associates.

D2 alone faces two counts which allege him of conspiring with the aforementioned former Cathay Pacific staff member and other persons for the former Cathay Pacific staff member and himself to accept bribes for providing similar assistance in respect of Mainland travellers arranged by them.

D2, D3 and D4 are accused of conspiring with other persons for D2 to accept bribes for providing similar assistance to D3 or his associates.

The above alleged offences took place between September 2008 and August 2009.

In a separate case, the defendant, 45, unemployed, is charged with one count of offering advantages to public servants, contrary to Section 4(1)(a) of POBO; and three of offering advantages to agents, contrary to Section 9(2)(a) of POBO.

The defendant is alleged of offering advantages to unknown officers of the Immigration Department on April 6, 2009 for them to refrain from taking appropriate action against any suspected problems with the travel, and/or, flight documents of the Mainland travellers arranged by the defendant and his associates.

He is further alleged of offering advantages to unknown employees of three airline companies between an unknown day and August 2009 for their assistance in ensuring travellers arranged by him or his associates to successfully check in their flights.