2 hospital department heads arrested in Hong Kong over CUHK suspected fraud case

Two department heads at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) hospital were arrested and dismissed last week in connection with suspected fraud through abuse of position, following a report by senior management to the city’s anti-corruption agency.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) said on Tuesday that it had received a complaint from the university’s medical centre.

“It was suspected that certain staff members of the centre had abused his or her authority to defraud the centre of money by illegal means, allegedly contravening Section 9(3) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance, i.e., an agent using a document with intent to deceive his or her principal,” an ICAC spokesman said.

“After collecting evidence, ICAC officers arrested two staff members of the centre and carried out searches under warrants issued by the court last Thursday.”

The pair were released on bail pending further investigation, the spokesman added, noting that the commission would help the centre in reviewing and strengthening its corruption prevention measures to stamp out malpractices.

Revealing the incident on Tuesday, the university’s vice-chancellor and president, Dennis Lo Yuk-ming, said the case came to light after Dr Chung Kin-lai, the hospital’s newly appointed CEO, conducted financial checks on department staff in July and uncovered allegations that two department heads had falsified accounts to defraud the hospital.