Pair 'offered bribes to council staff'_6128

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"It is hoped this public inquiry will make some contribution towards rectifying that problem," Mr Thangaraj said.
In his opening address, Mr Thangaraj said it may be that some members of the Chinese community did not understand offering bribes was against the law.
But ICAC Commissioner Jerrold Cripps said the couple knew their conduct was wrong.
"To suggest they bring that sort of cultural baggage when they come to Australia, I think is not very charitably disposed to other Chinese people who come to this country who don't behave this way."
It's unfair to Australia's Chinese community to suggest some of them believe offering bribes is an acceptable practice, a corruption hearing has been told.
"I think I can say that the evidence is overwhelmingly to the effect that they did,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login," he said.
Mr Cripps acknowledged the pair had cooperated with investigators.
"This sort of excuse that `well,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, all this passed muster in China,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, therefore people aren't culpable when they try to do the same thing when they come to Australia' ... I've rejected that argument in the first two cases and frankly I reject it in this one.
The lawyer for the couple said their lack of language skills and high school education should be taken into account in the commissioner's final report.
Pair 'offered bribes to council staff'
The couple said the approval process was taking months and they faced large interest payments with no income.
The investigation included wire taps and the council officers working undercover with the commission.
The hearing was told the couple had spent more than $1.5 million on a premises at Dee Why on Sydney's northern beaches in 2008, intending to open a supermarket and butchery.
"In order to speed up the approval, Mr Chen and Ms Sun attempted to bribe council officers on three separate occasions in March," counsel assisting the commission Murugan Thangaraj said.
They admitted pushing cash-filled envelopes, totalling several hundred dollars,You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login, into the trouser pockets of two Warringah Council employees during building inspections earlier this year.
"During the time I paid the money ... I thought it was possible this could be against the law," he told the hearing.
Mr Chen, speaking through an interpreter, said he had been in a hurry to open the business.
It follows two previous ICAC cases involving Chinese people, including one where parents attempted to bribe a teacher to get their child into a selective school.
Husband and wife Jin Hua Chen and Yu Ling Sun faced an Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) hearing on Tuesday, admitting offering cash bribes to council staff in an effort to speed up building approvals.