Hong Kong News Hub: Dozens arrested in alleged technology voucher scam

Police said on Thursday they had arrested 35 people for allegedly conspiring or attempting to defraud more than HK$10 million from the government’s technology voucher programme.

The programme was launched in 2016 to help local businesses and organisations use technology services and solutions to improve productivity.

Officers said the suspects, aged between 24 and 62, belonged to three different fraud syndicates.

Chief inspector Ng Kei-chun of the police’s commercial crime bureau said the syndicates had allegedly recruited people to apply for the subsidy and prepared false documents for them.

“We discover that the intermediary companies will recruit applicants through cold calls or social media. When they find the applicants are willing to collude with the intermediaries, the intermediaries will help the applicants to apply for the technology voucher programme,” he said.

“And once the technology voucher programme subsidy is granted, they will split the subsidy into 6:4 or 7:3 ratio.”

The force said it had seized cash and bank documents in raids on the suspects’ homes and offices, adding that it had frozen about HK$950,000 in two bank accounts.

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