A retired Hong Kong social worker behind a dropped legal challenge arising from the San Tin Technopole project has been sentenced to community service for defrauding authorities out of HK$16,780 (US$2,138) in welfare benefits.
Eastern Court on Thursday adopted a probation officer’s recommendation to sentence Eddie Tse Sai-kit to 120 hours of unpaid community work after his lawyer said he “recklessly” understated his earnings to obtain four months’ worth of welfare allowances last year.
A presentencing report cited the 68-year-old defendant as saying he had mistakenly believed that he only needed to report his average monthly income over the year in his application to the Social Welfare Department.
Acting Principal Magistrate David Cheung Chi-wai at one point questioned whether the court should accept the 68-year-old defendant’s earlier guilty plea, before concluding that his failure to make an accurate declaration went beyond mere negligence and deserved criminal sanction.
Cheung also noted that Tse had admitted wrongdoing at the first opportunity and was remorseful.
Tse was arrested early this year while he was challenging an environmental impact assessment report that endorsed the development of a technology hub near the mainland Chinese border.
Despite securing permission from the High Court to commence judicial review proceedings, Tse later dropped the case, citing “widespread harassment and intimidation”.
A pro-Beijing newspaper had also depicted Tse as an activist “disrupting Hong Kong” by blindly opposing development under the guise of promoting environmental preservation.
According to a prosecution case summary, Tse applied for an Old Age Living Allowance of HK$4,195 in June 2023 and claimed his monthly income was HK$5,000, which was below the limit of HK$10,710 at the time.
He received a total of HK$80,460 from the department between July 2023 and December 2024.
But the social worker failed to declare his earnings from Polytechnic University, where he had worked as a part-time fieldwork supervisor from January 2021 to May this year.
Tse earned an additional monthly salary of between HK$6,000 and HK$19,200 from June to December last year for his work at the university, according to the summary.
He also failed to notify the department that he had accepted a one-off “honorarium” of HK$24,000 from the Social Workers Registration Board for serving on its disciplinary committee panel.
An investigation concluded Tse would not have been entitled to the monthly allowance in July, August, November and December last year – an amount totalling HK$16,780 – if he had not concealed his income.
Tse pleaded guilty earlier this month to four counts of fraud. Magistrate Cheung had ordered that Tse pay HK$16,780 in compensation to the department as part of his penalty.
The defence said in a previous hearing that Tse had retired from social work after his arrest. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
