11th July 2024 – (Hong Kong) A hotel director has been found guilty of conspiring with six relatives to deceive the government and fraudulently obtain HKD 380,000 from the Anti-epidemic Fund (AEF) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The male director had previously admitted to five counts of conspiracy to defraud, while the remaining six defendants were each convicted of one count of conspiracy to defraud after trial. Today (11th), Judge Kathie Cheung Kit-Yee handed down prison sentences ranging from 13 to 29 months to the seven individuals. The judge emphasized the gravity and premeditation involved in defrauding the government by exploiting the fund intended for non-industry employees. Judge Cheung sternly rebuked their intention to deceive public funds, stressing that if their plan had succeeded, it would have had a significant impact on the government’s allocation system.
The defendants who received convictions and prison sentences are aged between 27 and 61 years old. The offences occurred between 18th April and 13th May, 2020. While there were initially three additional defendants in the case, two of them were not prosecuted due to a lack of evidence, and the remaining defendant was acquitted after the trial. One of the defendants is a director of a hotel and had previously admitted to five counts of conspiracy to defraud. He has been sentenced to 17 months in prison. The other six defendants were convicted of one count of conspiracy to defraud after trial. Except for 2 of the defendants, who received prison terms of 29 and 13 months respectively, the remaining four defendants were sentenced to 14 months in prison.
According to the prosecution, the government introduced subsidies under the “Anti-epidemic Fund” during the pandemic to support the travel industry. The funds were disbursed by the Caring Fund, and only eligible travel agents and employees could receive the subsidies. Employees were not allowed to apply individually. Ng Cheuk-yin, recruited six relatives, falsely claiming them as company employees and applied for subsidies, ultimately defrauding a total of HK$380,000. However, during the auditing process, it was discovered that the hotel had no actual employees, resulting in zero personnel costs and exposing the fraudulent scheme.
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