HA Doctor charged by ICAC sentenced for fraud over $110,000 extra service honorarium
2024-1-17
A Resident Doctor of a public hospital, charged by the ICAC with fraud revealed in the course of a corruption investigation, was today sentenced to 160 hours of community service at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts for deceiving the Hospital Authority (HA) into paying him special honorarium of over $110,000 by making false representations about his extra services performed on a number of occasions at another public hospital.
Wong Man-ho, 34, Resident Doctor of Yan Chai Hospital, earlier pleaded guilty to one count of fraud, contrary to section 16A of the Theft Ordinance, and made full repayment to the HA.
In sentencing, Magistrate Mr Jason Wan Siu-ming remarked that a community service order was imposed on the defendant, having considered that he was remorseful and the overall circumstances of the case.
The court heard that under the Special Honorarium Scheme (SHS), medical staff of the HA who provided extra services to cope with excessive service demand and workload were remunerated on an hourly basis, provided that the extra services were done outside the normal call of duties of the employees. The medical staff concerned should perform the SHS extra services outside their normal call of duties and the SHS extra services should not affect the performance of their normal duties in the HA.
The defendant joined the HA in July 2013. He had 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. After joining the HA, he made a number of applications to participate in the SHS at Tuen Mun Hospital.
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.
The defendant admitted that he had left Yan Chai Hospital earlier than his official off-duty hours without approval from his supervisors, and had not reported duty on time at Tuen Mun Hospital. On various occasions, he had also made false representations to the HA about his attendance records in relation to the SHS extra services performed at the Accident and Emergency Department of Tuen Mun Hospital, so as to deceive the HA into paying him special honorarium of over $110,000.
The HA had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case. Had the HA known that the defendant had 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 concerned to the defendant.
The prosecution was today represented by Senior Public Prosecutor Chan Sze-yan, assisted by ICAC officers Dominic Cheung and Christine Wong.
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, 34, Resident Doctor of Yan Chai Hospital, earlier pleaded guilty to one count of fraud, contrary to section 16A of the Theft Ordinance, and made full repayment to the HA.
In sentencing, Magistrate Mr Jason Wan Siu-ming remarked that a community service order was imposed on the defendant, having considered that he was remorseful and the overall circumstances of the case.
The court heard that under the Special Honorarium Scheme (SHS), medical staff of the HA who provided extra services to cope with excessive service demand and workload were remunerated on an hourly basis, provided that the extra services were done outside the normal call of duties of the employees. The medical staff concerned should perform the SHS extra services outside their normal call of duties and the SHS extra services should not affect the performance of their normal duties in the HA.
The defendant joined the HA in July 2013. He had 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. After joining the HA, he made a number of applications to participate in the SHS at Tuen Mun Hospital.
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.
The defendant admitted that he had left Yan Chai Hospital earlier than his official off-duty hours without approval from his supervisors, and had not reported duty on time at Tuen Mun Hospital. On various occasions, he had also made false representations to the HA about his attendance records in relation to the SHS extra services performed at the Accident and Emergency Department of Tuen Mun Hospital, so as to deceive the HA into paying him special honorarium of over $110,000.
The HA had rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation into the case. Had the HA known that the defendant had 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 concerned to the defendant.
The prosecution was today represented by Senior Public Prosecutor Chan Sze-yan, assisted by ICAC officers Dominic Cheung and Christine Wong.
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.