Ex-principal of primary school charged by ICAC with MIPO for allegedly concealing conflict of interest and divulging exam questions to tutorial centre
2023-4-3
A former principal of a government-aided primary school was charged by the ICAC today (April 3) with misconduct in public office (MIPO) for allegedly concealing from the school his financial interests in a tutorial centre. The former principal and a former director of the tutorial centre further face a charge of conspiracy to commit MIPO for allegedly divulging confidential examination and quiz questions of the school to the tutorial centre before the examinations and quizzes were held.
Henry Kwok Chiu-kwan, 50, former principal of Tak Sun School, faces one count of MIPO, contrary to Common Law. Kwok and Pang Wing-han, 46, former director cum shareholder of Diligence Learning Centre Limited (DLC), jointly face one count of conspiracy to commit MIPO, contrary to Common Law and Section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.
The case will be brought before the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts tomorrow (April 4), pending the prosecution’s application for transferring the case to the District Court.
The alleged offences took place between July 2017 and June 2021. At the material time, Kwok was the principal of Tak Sun School while Pang was one of the directors cum shareholders of DLC, which ran a tutorial centre near Tak Sun School.
All staff of Tak Sun School, including Kwok, were required to file a written declaration of conflict of interest form annually. In addition, they were prohibited from divulging any confidential information, including questions of examinations and quizzes, without the school’s authorisation.
It is alleged that Kwok, in the course of or in relation to his public office, without reasonable excuse or justification, wilfully and intentionally misconducted himself by concealing from the Incorporated Management Committee (IMC) of Tak Sun School his financial interests in DLC.
Kwok and Pang also allegedly conspired together for Kwok to misconduct himself by divulging confidential information of Tak Sun School, namely its examination questions and quiz questions, to DLC before the scheduled dates of the relevant examinations and quizzes.
The ICAC investigation revealed that at the material time, Kwok submitted four annual declaration forms of conflict of interest to Tak Sun School in which he stated that he and his direct relatives had no financial interest in any organisations which had official dealings with the school.
Enquiries also revealed that in June 2017, Kwok had allegedly borrowed over $400,000 from his mother for incorporating a tutorial centre. In late July 2017, Kwok transferred the sum to the bank account of Pang. It is revealed that the confidential information divulged to DLC involved Tak Sun School’s examination and quiz questions of Primary 5 and Primary 6.
According to the Secondary School Places Allocation System administered by the Education Bureau (EDB), central allocation of secondary one place is determined in accordance with a student’s allocation band which is based on the results of the student’s internal assessment of a number of subjects. Tak Sun School was required to submit the internal assessment results of students of Term 3 of Primary 5 and Terms 1 and 2 of Primary 6 to the EDB.
The EDB and the IMC of Tak Sun School have rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.
To ensure the integrity of all processes, schools are recommended to adopt corruption prevention safeguards in their operation set out in the Best Practice Checklist on Governance and Internal Control in Schools (cpas.icac.hk/EN/Info/Lib_List?cate_id=3&id=238) published by the ICAC. The ICAC attaches great importance to school integrity management. The Commission stands ready to provide integrity training to school staff if required.
Henry Kwok Chiu-kwan, 50, former principal of Tak Sun School, faces one count of MIPO, contrary to Common Law. Kwok and Pang Wing-han, 46, former director cum shareholder of Diligence Learning Centre Limited (DLC), jointly face one count of conspiracy to commit MIPO, contrary to Common Law and Section 159A of the Crimes Ordinance.
The case will be brought before the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts tomorrow (April 4), pending the prosecution’s application for transferring the case to the District Court.
The alleged offences took place between July 2017 and June 2021. At the material time, Kwok was the principal of Tak Sun School while Pang was one of the directors cum shareholders of DLC, which ran a tutorial centre near Tak Sun School.
All staff of Tak Sun School, including Kwok, were required to file a written declaration of conflict of interest form annually. In addition, they were prohibited from divulging any confidential information, including questions of examinations and quizzes, without the school’s authorisation.
It is alleged that Kwok, in the course of or in relation to his public office, without reasonable excuse or justification, wilfully and intentionally misconducted himself by concealing from the Incorporated Management Committee (IMC) of Tak Sun School his financial interests in DLC.
Kwok and Pang also allegedly conspired together for Kwok to misconduct himself by divulging confidential information of Tak Sun School, namely its examination questions and quiz questions, to DLC before the scheduled dates of the relevant examinations and quizzes.
The ICAC investigation revealed that at the material time, Kwok submitted four annual declaration forms of conflict of interest to Tak Sun School in which he stated that he and his direct relatives had no financial interest in any organisations which had official dealings with the school.
Enquiries also revealed that in June 2017, Kwok had allegedly borrowed over $400,000 from his mother for incorporating a tutorial centre. In late July 2017, Kwok transferred the sum to the bank account of Pang. It is revealed that the confidential information divulged to DLC involved Tak Sun School’s examination and quiz questions of Primary 5 and Primary 6.
According to the Secondary School Places Allocation System administered by the Education Bureau (EDB), central allocation of secondary one place is determined in accordance with a student’s allocation band which is based on the results of the student’s internal assessment of a number of subjects. Tak Sun School was required to submit the internal assessment results of students of Term 3 of Primary 5 and Terms 1 and 2 of Primary 6 to the EDB.
The EDB and the IMC of Tak Sun School have rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.
To ensure the integrity of all processes, schools are recommended to adopt corruption prevention safeguards in their operation set out in the Best Practice Checklist on Governance and Internal Control in Schools (cpas.icac.hk/EN/Info/Lib_List?cate_id=3&id=238) published by the ICAC. The ICAC attaches great importance to school integrity management. The Commission stands ready to provide integrity training to school staff if required.