Social work officer and elderly home operator jailed over bribery for patient referrals

An assistant social work officer was jailed eight months on Friday for accepting HK$83,000 in bribes to refer patients discharged from Princess Margaret Hospital to a private elderly home, the operator of which was also jailed for six months and 18 days. 

The defendant Yau Chun-wo, 58, of the Social Welfare Department was also ordered to make a restitution repayment of the bribes concerned to the government. 

He and co-defendant Li Lai-chun, 51, operator of Happy Year Elderly Care Home, earlier pleaded guilty to a count of conspiracy for a public servant to accept advantages. 

At West Kowloon Court on Friday, magistrate Li Chi-ho noted that the court was dealing with a typical corruption case in which the defendant continually committed the offense over a long period. 

The duo warranted an immediate custodial sentence and the criminality of offering bribes and that of bribe acceptance were the same, magistrate Li also said. Still, he reduced the duo’s jail terms after considering their guilty pleas and various mitigating factors. 

The court heard that Yau was posted to the Medical Social Services Unit of the Princess Margaret Hospital’s Lai King Building at the material time. Meanwhile, Li was a shareholder-cum-director of the company which operated Happy Year. 

The ICAC investigation, which arose from a corruption complaint, revealed that Yau had arranged a total of 33 discharged patients of Lai King Building to reside at Happy Year between May 2018 and September 2022. 

Family members of one-third of the patients noted that Yau recommended Happy Year to them. It was also revealed that Yau accepted HK$83,000 in bribes from Li for referring 14 of the patients to Happy Year. 

An ICAC spokesperson noted that civil servants should never abuse their official capacity to obtain personal gain and should uphold integrity in performing their duties to safeguard public interest, warning that bribery is a serious offense.