The Hong Kong Insurance Authority (IA) has taken disciplinary action against Wong Ka Keung (Licence number: IE9049), prohibiting him from acting as an insurance intermediary for three decades.
The decision follows an investigation that found Wong had orchestrated a scheme involving at least nine others to defraud his authorised insurer of approximately HK$27 million over a span of three years.
The IA reported that Wong arranged for individuals with critical illnesses to pose as policyholders and submit false insurance claims. Through this operation, Wong received about HK$13.5 million.
Additionally, he was found to have created three forged sick leave certificates for a patient.
Wong’s actions led to criminal charges brought by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), resulting in a prison sentence of six years and four months.
The IA stated that such conduct not only constitutes a criminal offence but also undermines the functioning of the insurance market and endangers the rights of policyholders.
The regulator noted that the length of the ban reflects the seriousness of the misconduct.
More details can be found in the “Enforcement News” section and the Register of Licensed Insurance Intermediaries on the IA’s website.
In a separate enforcement action, the IA recently announced a 50-month ban on So Yuen Wa (Licence number: IG3140) for policy replacement misconduct.
According to the IA, So advised two clients that her appointing insurer would acquire their existing policies, encouraging them to surrender three critical illness and long-term savings policies and purchase eight new policies from her.
The IA found that So did not disclose the nature of the policy replacement, impersonated a client to obtain policy information, and retained the surrender value instead of applying it to the new policies. The IA noted that nearly all of the funds were later repaid by So.
The authority highlighted the risks associated with policy replacement, including the loss of original policy protections and the inability to reinstate surrendered policies.
The IA advised the public to carefully consider the implications before surrendering any insurance policies and reminded intermediaries that misleading or unethical practices in policy replacement are subject to significant regulatory penalties.
The IA also recently reported that Yan Zhiyu was fined HK$10,000 by the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts for failing to attend an investigation interview without reasonable excuse.
The interview was part of an inquiry into suspected misappropriation of premium payments involving two policyholders.
The IA explained that under section 64ZZL(1) of the Insurance Ordinance (Cap. 41), individuals may be required to attend interviews or provide assistance during regulatory investigations.
Non-compliance can result in a fine of up to HK$200,000 and imprisonment for one year upon conviction on indictment, or a fine of HK$50,000 and six months’ imprisonment on summary conviction.
The authority stated that these enforcement actions are part of ongoing efforts to maintain market integrity and safeguard the interests of policyholders in Hong Kong.
