The government has revised the procedures to apply for reimbursement of air
ticket allowances for judges and civil servants alike and this took into effect
form yesterday.
In line with the new procedures, an officer is required to confirm he has
paid for the related expenses, as well as confirming all invoices/ receipts are
genuine and initialing on each and every attached document.
Besides, only receipts issued in the name of the claimant and eligible family
members will be accepted for reimbursement.
The revision followed the Department of Justice's decision not to prosecute
retired judge Michael Wong for allegedly accepting advantages when he was in
office.
It was also a result of the Judiciary's decision to call back from Wong a sum
of HK$171,666 related to three trips for him and his wife because he was not
deemed entitled to such payment.
Legislators, however, questioned if Wong was entitled to air passage payments
while in office, why was he deemed unqualified after he had retired.
The Legislative Council's Panel on Administration of Justice and Legal
Services yesterday met to discuss the report on Wong's inappropriate
applications for air ticket expenses and the alleged receipt of air tickets from
a businessman.
After investigation, the graft buster submitted a report to the Director of
Public Prosecutions, who decided in January 2006 that there was no evidence to
prosecute him for acting dishonestly.
The panel then wrote to the Judiciary and asked if something could be done.
On September 20, the Judiciary replied that there were insufficient grounds to
take action under the Pension Benefits (Judicial Officers) Ordinance.
However, legal advice concluded that Wong was not entitled to reimbursement
for the three trips between August 1998 and February 2001. At the request of the
Judiciary, Wong repaid HK$171,666 to the government.
Answering questions from panelists, Law Officer (International Law) Ian
Wingfield said that it was his daughter who had booked and paid in advance for
the tickets every time.
Given that Wong had not paid for the tickets at the time of application for
reimbursement, he was not qualified for the reimbursement.
But lawmaker Audrey Eu queried if Wong had not paid for the tickets, then how
could he get the receipts.
She further asked if the receipts submitted for reimbursement were genuine
and issued in Wong's name.
Wingfield replied that the submitted receipts were genuine but he was not
sure if they were issued in Wong's name. The government was also asked to
provide written information to queries from the panelists.
