Hong Kong antitrust watchdog launches legal action against 6 firms and 3 individuals suspected of rigging bids for Covid subsidy scheme
- Six firms and three individuals allegedly engaged in bid-rigging to secure about HK$13 million in funds from the Distance Business Programme
- It is the first time the Competition Commission has pursued a cartel case related to a government subsidy scheme
Hong Kong’s antitrust watchdog has started legal proceedings against a group of local companies and individuals accused of manipulating the bidding process of a Covid-19 relief programme.
The Competition Commission on Wednesday outlined how six firms and three individuals engaged in suspected cover bidding, a form of bid-rigging, to secure about HK$13 million (US$1.7 million) in funds from the Distance Business Programme, a subsidy scheme set up under the government’s Anti-Epidemic Fund in May 2020.
The announcement marks the first time the commission has pursued a cartel case related to a government subsidy scheme.
“Government funding and sponsorship provide much needed support and in some cases actual lifelines to businesses,” commission CEO Rasul Butt said. “Any attempt to exploit such efforts needs to be confronted head on.”
The commission said it had reason to believe the four undertakings involving six businesses – KWEK Studio Limited, Multisoft Limited and its parent company MTT Group Holdings Limited (Multisoft), BP Enterprise Company and Nursing Home Company Limited (BP/Noble), which worked together, and Yat Ying Hong – engaged in cover bidding on 189 applications beginning in May 2020.
