HA Doctor charged as ICAC probe reveals $110,000 extra service honorarium fraud
2023-7-19
A Resident Doctor of a public hospital was charged by the ICAC with fraud today (July 19) after it was revealed in the course of a corruption investigation that he allegedly deceived the Hospital Authority (HA) into paying him special honorarium of over $110,000 by making false representations about the extra services he performed on various occasions at another public hospital.
Wong Man-ho, 33, Resident Doctor of Yan Chai Hospital, faces one count of fraud, contrary to section 16A of the Theft Ordinance. He was released on ICAC bail, pending his appearance at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on Friday (July 21).
The defendant joined the HA in July 2013, and has been a Resident Doctor of Yan Chai Hospital posted to the Department of Medicine since January 2017. In general, the defendant was required to work from 9 am to 5 pm on weekdays and from 9 am to 1 pm on Saturdays. He was also required to perform on-call duty on rotation.
Medical staff of the HA who provided extra services to cope with excessive service demand and workload were remunerated on an hourly basis under the Special Honorarium Scheme (SHS), provided that the extra services were done outside the normal call of duties of the employees.
It is alleged that the defendant induced the HA to pay special honorarium of over $110,000 to him by falsely representing to the HA that the hours declared on the relevant attendance records in relation to his extra services performed at the Accident and Emergency Department of Tuen Mun Hospital were in addition to his normal call of duties and did not affect the performance of his normal duties in the HA.
The ICAC investigation arose from a corruption complaint referred by the HA. Enquiries revealed that on over 60 occasions between January 2017 and November 2019, the defendant’s normal call of duties at Yan Chai Hospital overlapped with his reported SHS duty hours at Tuen Mun Hospital. The overlapping hours amounted to almost 170 hours.
Had the HA known that the defendant had either performed the SHS duties at Tuen Mun Hospital within his normal call of duties of Yan Chai Hospital without approval or exaggerated his SHS duty hours, the HA would not have approved or released the SHS remuneration in question to the defendant.
The HA has rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.
In close collaboration with public bodies, including the HA, the ICAC reminds public servants to uphold a high standard of integrity through education and publicity, so as to meet public expectations and maintain public trust.
Wong Man-ho, 33, Resident Doctor of Yan Chai Hospital, faces one count of fraud, contrary to section 16A of the Theft Ordinance. He was released on ICAC bail, pending his appearance at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on Friday (July 21).
The defendant joined the HA in July 2013, and has been a Resident Doctor of Yan Chai Hospital posted to the Department of Medicine since January 2017. In general, the defendant was required to work from 9 am to 5 pm on weekdays and from 9 am to 1 pm on Saturdays. He was also required to perform on-call duty on rotation.
Medical staff of the HA who provided extra services to cope with excessive service demand and workload were remunerated on an hourly basis under the Special Honorarium Scheme (SHS), provided that the extra services were done outside the normal call of duties of the employees.
It is alleged that the defendant induced the HA to pay special honorarium of over $110,000 to him by falsely representing to the HA that the hours declared on the relevant attendance records in relation to his extra services performed at the Accident and Emergency Department of Tuen Mun Hospital were in addition to his normal call of duties and did not affect the performance of his normal duties in the HA.
The ICAC investigation arose from a corruption complaint referred by the HA. Enquiries revealed that on over 60 occasions between January 2017 and November 2019, the defendant’s normal call of duties at Yan Chai Hospital overlapped with his reported SHS duty hours at Tuen Mun Hospital. The overlapping hours amounted to almost 170 hours.
Had the HA known that the defendant had either performed the SHS duties at Tuen Mun Hospital within his normal call of duties of Yan Chai Hospital without approval or exaggerated his SHS duty hours, the HA would not have approved or released the SHS remuneration in question to the defendant.
The HA has rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case.
In close collaboration with public bodies, including the HA, the ICAC reminds public servants to uphold a high standard of integrity through education and publicity, so as to meet public expectations and maintain public trust.