Ex-HK water polo team manager pleads guilty to fraud over $410,000 in govt allowances

A former Hong Kong Water Polo team manager admitted to deceiving the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI) into granting government training allowances of more than HK$410,000 using fraudulent athlete training records.

The 62-year-old defendant Koo Yu-fat, the former Honorary Secretary of the Water Polo Committee of the Hong Kong China Swimming Association (HKCSA) and then team manager of the Water Polo Team, pleaded guilty to one count of fraud at the District Court on Thursday (Feb 6).

The court heard that Koo falsified the nominated HK Water Polo Team athletes' training hours when preparing the training records between January 2018 to September 2021, making all 33 athletes in the team reach the required attendance hours and granted a total of HK$412,000 in government subsidies.

In addition to falsifying the number of training hours, the ICAC investigation also revealed that the defendant had requested the athletes to return him part or the whole sum of the allowances, totaling about HK$360,000.

Judge Pang Chung-ping adjourned the case for sentencing on March 7, pending the defendant's community service order report and granted him bail.