Ex-director of insurance watchdog charged for pressuring Prudential HK into hiring daughter-in-law

Former executive director of the Insurance Authority Hui Mei-ying and her daughter-in-law are facing prosecution for allegedly coercing and inducing Prudential Hong Kong into hiring the latter with an enhanced salary package. 

Sixty-one-year-old Hui and 32-year-old Chan Tsz-wai, a digital consultant, were jointly charged by the ICAC with one count of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office. The former was charged with an alternative charge of misconduct in public office. 

They appeared before magistrate Vivian Ho Wai-han at Eastern Magistrates’ Courts on Friday and were released on bail for HK$100,000 each. The hearing was adjourned to May 2. 

They must surrender their travel documents, live at reported correspondences and must not leave Hong Kong. 

The investigation by the ICAC revealed that Hui allegedly sent Chan’s CV to a senior executive of Prudential to explore a job opportunity for Chan. When Chan and Prudential were discussing her salary package, Hui made negative comments to Prudential’s senior management on its failure to hire the right talent with market salaries. 

Hui added that if the issue was not properly addressed, she would exercise the IA’s supervision power to institute a review on Prudential’s operation which could cause Prudential millions of Hong Kong dollars. 

The investigation also revealed that Chan, who was earning about HK$960,000 annually at the material time, demanded a 30 percent increase of her salary to HK$1.3 million from Prudential. 

When Chan was discussing her salary package with Prudential, she also allegedly told an employee that she could help the company maintain a good relationship with the IA and that she could share insider information of the IA with Prudential. 

Prudential subsequently terminated the employment process in view of the potential conflict of interest.