HKU Associate Professor Charged in HK$2.2 Million Bribery Case
HK01 · 3 SOURCESabout 3 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
The Independent Commission Against Corruption has charged four people, including University of Hong Kong associate professor Wong Ka-wai, over an alleged bribery scheme linked to seven IT education project procurement orders worth more than HK$10 million. Prosecutors also allege the group defrauded HKU over HK$120,000 in service fees by falsely claiming two relatives of a supplier had provided research and development services.
Key Points
- The four defendants are 45-year-old HKU Faculty of Education associate professor Wong Ka-wai, 56-year-old supplier Shuen Man-ho, his 57-year-old wife Chu Wai-yi, and his 26-year-old nephew Cheung Chun.
- Wong and Shuen face nine counts of conspiracy for a public servant to accept advantages, while all four also face two counts of fraud under Hong Kong law.
- The ICAC said that during the period from August 2023 to June 2026, Wong also headed HKU’s Centre for Information Technology in Education and handled funded IT teaching projects under university procurement rules.
- Investigators allege Wong accepted about HK$2.2 million in cash to award seven orders to Immersive Learning Lab Company Limited or Hong Kong Longqi Technology Education Limited, or to favour them in tenders.
- The alleged arrangement included placing Chu, Cheung and five other people in HKU jobs, with Wong said to receive 10% to 50% of each order value after contracts were awarded.
- The projects cited include eLEARN2.0, a virtual reality primary school e-learning platform developed by CITE, and the Jockey Club “CoolThink” style emerging technology programme for senior secondary students known as the Jockey Club “Tech Bud” Scheme.
- The fraud charges allege the four falsely represented that Chu and Cheung had provided development research services to CITE under service agreements, inducing HKU to pay them HK$120,000.
- All four were granted bail and are due to appear at Eastern Magistrates’ Courts on Monday, August 24, for transfer to the District Court for plea.
Why It Matters
The case centres on university procurement and externally funded education technology programmes, areas that involve public-interest spending and school-facing projects in Hong Kong. It is also likely to draw attention to oversight of tendering, staffing and service verification at publicly funded tertiary institutions.