The Zhitong Finance App learned that on October 9, the Hong Kong Independent Commission against Corruption filed a lawsuit this morning against the then-chairman of a listed company, accusing him of taking bribes of HK$20 million from a shareholder of a Dalian real estate developer, causing the listed company to buy a local real estate project for 440 million yuan. The case was arraigned in Eastern Magistrates' Court today.
Zhang Yadong, age 58, is the then-chairman of Greentown China Holdings Limited (Greentown China, 03900), charged with one count of conspiring to get an agent to accept an advantage, contrary to section 9 (1) (a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.
The charge alleges that between January 2020 and March 2023, the defendant conspired with an intermediary, a shareholder of a Dalian real estate developer, and the defendant's son to accept HK$20 million in bribes from the shareholder, causing Greentown China to acquire shares in the real estate developer.
The ICAC investigation found that the shareholders involved in the case had been promoting a real estate project in Dalian to Greentown China since 2019. Since then, the defendant is suspected of soliciting bribes from the shareholder through the intermediary involved in the case, which prompted Greentown China to purchase the relevant project at RMB 440 million. The bribes involved in the case are suspected to have been deposited into the defendant's son's bank account in multiple installments through this intermediary.
Greentown China provided full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation of the case.