15 suspicious cases uncovered in Hong Kong tech voucher programme
Sun Dong, the secretary for innovation, technology and industry, in a written reply to questions by a lawmaker on Wednesday regarding the suspected abuse of the Technology Voucher Programme, said authorities would recover funding from applicants who were convicted in cases.
The Innovation and Technology Commission introduced the subsidy scheme in 2016 to help local businesses and other organisations improve their operations through technological upgrades, with the programme ceasing to accept new applications after December 31, 2024.
Police in 2024, however, had uncovered syndicate operations involving fraudulent applications in the scheme, with the alleged scams involving 50 applications to the programme.
'In the past three years, the [Technology Voucher Programme] Secretariat has conducted random on-site checks on 1,860 projects and referred 15 suspicious cases to law enforcement agencies for follow-up,' Sun wrote.
'The Secretariat will recover the funding from applicants convicted in the cases. As the investigations/judicial proceedings by the law enforcement agencies are still ongoing, we have no record of funding recovery for the time being.'
Sun noted that to ensure the proper use of public funds, the programme's secretariat would 'rigorously' review the applications, final project reports and supplementary information submitted.
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