Hong Kong McD chief suspended because of bribe trialHong Kong McD chief suspended because of bribe trial

HONG KONG McDonald’s Corp. has suspended Lau Si-sing, managing director of McDonald’s Hong Kong, pending the outcome of his trial on charges of taking bribes from a corn supplier.

Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption said in a statement posted Nov. 12 on its website that it was charging Lau with receiving kickbacks amounting to 10 percent of the order price from the supplier between May 2005 and April 2007. The statement also said that the management of McDonald’s has fully cooperated with the investigation.

“McDonald’s does not condone illegal practices by anyone connected with the company, and we have been cooperating fully with the authorities throughout their investigation,” Liam Jeory, vice president of corporate relations for McDonald’s Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa region, said in a statement. “There is no further comment we can make, pending the outcome of the judicial process.”

McDonald’s has more than 200 restaurants in Hong Kong, where it opened its first unit in 1975.