Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ9: Efforts to combat CSSA fraud cases
Following is a question by the Hon Li Fung-ying and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (March 8):
Question:
In connection with defrauding of and abusing Comprehensive Social Security
Assistance (CSSA) payments, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective numbers of suspected and substantiated fraud cases in each
year between 2003 and the end of February this year and the amounts involved,
broken down by category of recipients (old age, permanent disability, ill
health, single parent, low earnings, unemployment and others) and, among those
substantiated cases, the respective numbers of cases which were referred to the
Police, prosecuted by the Police and convicted, as well as the maximum, minimum
and general penalties imposed on those convicted cases;
(b) whether it has conducted any detailed analysis of the data relating to
defrauding of and abusing CSSA payments; if it has, of the results of the
analysis; if not, whether it will consider doing so in future;
(c) of the details about the Social Welfare Department's current manpower
dedicated to the prevention and investigation of CSSA fraud and abuse cases; and
whether the authorities will strengthen the manpower and resources in this
respect in the coming financial year; if they will, of the details; if not, the
reasons for that; and
(d) whether it has reviewed the existing measures for preventing defrauding of
and abusing CSSA payments; if it has, of the review results; and whether it will
introduce new measures to further prevent and expedite the processing of
suspected fraud cases; if it will, of the implementation timetable and the
details of the new measures?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) Between 2003-04 and the end of February 2006, the Social Welfare Department
(SWD) received a total of 13 210 reports of suspected CSSA fraud cases. Upon
investigation, 1 801 were substantiated to be fraud cases involving about $110
million. Among the substantiated fraud cases, 527 have been referred to the
Police for follow-up and 207 of them were subsequently convicted. Penalties
imposed on these cases include imprisonment, bound over, community service
order, fine and stern warning by Police Superintendent's Discretion. The maximum
penalty imposed was imprisonment for 18 months. SWD has issued warnings to the
remaining 1 274 cases and taken action to recover overpayment from the fraud
claimants. We do not maintain statistics concerning the case nature of the CSSA
recipients concerned.
(b) To ensure that public resources are effectively utilized to help those in
genuine need, SWD conducts analysis on CSSA cases in order to adjust the review
intervals. Earlier, a Police Superintendent from the Hong Kong Police Force was
seconded to the SWD as its adviser, with the specific task of offering
recommendations on measures to improve the handling of fraud and abuse cases. In
the light of the suggestions made by the Police Superintendent, the SWD is in
the process of collecting and analyzing the data of the relevant cases.
(c) At present, there are 120 Social Security grade officers in the Special
Investigation Section (SIS) of the SWD specializing in the prevention and
investigation of CSSA fraud and abuse cases. The SWD will appoint 4 retired
police officers at the inspectorate rank as fraud investigation advisors
starting from 2006-07 to assist in handling difficult cases and making further
efforts to combat CSSA abuse cases.
(d) Currently, in handling CSSA applications, SWD staff will arrange interviews
with the applicants and pay home visits in order to verify the data provided by
the applicants and their family members. They will also cross-check the data
with the employers (including ex-employers) or landlords of the applicants and
their family members where necessary.
Apart from the regular review of individual cases to determine the eligibility
of the recipients, the SWD also conducts regular data matching with other
Government departments and relevant organisations to cross-check data submitted
by the applicants and their family members. The Fraud Investigation Teams (FITs)
of SWD conduct in-depth investigations into suspected fraud cases, and operate a
special hotline to receive reports from the public.
In order to promote the law-abiding spirit, the SWD has installed anti-fraud
panels in all social security field units as part of its community education
programme, and to remind those concerned to report their circumstances honestly
and be aware of the serious consequences of defrauding CSSA payment. Latest
figures on fraud cases and penalties on convicted fraud cases are announced
regularly on the panels.
The SWD reviews from time to time the existing measures for preventing CSSA
frauds and abuses. In 2004-05, the Efficiency Unit conducted a study for the SIS
on the need to re-engineer its operational procedures for handling CSSA fraud
and overpayment cases. The study aimed at examining and improving the handling
of CSSA fraud and overpayment cases in order to improve efficiency and enhance
effectiveness. In addition, as mentioned in part (2), a Police Superintendent
advisor has assisted in improving the mechanism of the social security scheme so
as to step up the prevention, detection and investigation of CSSA fraud and
abuse cases. We are now following up on these two reports.
SWD will continue its efforts to combat CSSA fraud cases to ensure that public
resources are effectively utilized to help those in genuine need.
Ends/Wednesday, March 8, 2006
Issued at HKT 14:39
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