Eight Hong Kong Principal Hawker Control Officers sentenced to community service for preferential treatments in recruitment

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In her sentencing remarks, Deputy Judge noted that the collusion among the defendants had undermined fairness, violated professional ethics, disappointed the public, and tarnished the credibility of the government department.

Found guilty of giving preferential treatments to certain candidates during the recruitment exercise for Assistant Hawker Control Officers (AHCOs) in 2019, eight Principal Hawker Control Officers (PHCOs) of Hong Kong’s Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) were sentenced to community service orders ranging from 150 to 240 hours at the District Court on 17 June 2025.

The court heard that in February 2019, the FEHD conducted the AHCO Recruitment 2019 campaign, receiving over 5,000 applications, with approximately 2,100 candidates being shortlisted for interviews held in July and August of that year.

Seven of the defendants served as selection board members of the recruitment for different sessions of selection interview, while one acted as a “coordinator” who compiled and updated an “own buddies” list of preferred candidates with interview schedules. The list was circulated among the defendants with a view to facilitating those sitting in the selection board to accord preferential treatments to the candidates on the list.

Following a corruption complaint, Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) conducted an investigation, revealing that some of the candidates, or their relatives or acquaintances, had privately forwarded their interview schedules to some FEHD officers, including the eight defendants in the case.

The ICAC enquiries had also found that 36 out of approximately 950 candidates attending the selection interviews were named on the circulated list. Some of the listed candidates were believed to have received extra marks at the selection interviews. The ICAC therefore charged the eight defendants with conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office (MIPO).

To ensure the integrity and fairness of the recruitment process, the FEHD had invalidated the results of the interviews conducted in July and August 2019, and held another round of interviews for candidates in November 2019.

In her sentencing remarks, Deputy Judge Veronica Heung Shuk-han emphasised the seriousness of the case. She noted that the defendants had colluded with each other in an attempt to favour their “buddies” in a recruitment, thereby undermining the fairness of the recruitment process, violating professional ethics, disappointing the public, and tarnishing the credibility of the FEHD. Their acts had also led to wasted public resources due to the need for the invalidation of the recruitment results and another round of recruitment exercise.

An ICAC spokesperson stated that in view of the case, the Commission has since reviewed the FEHD’s recruitment procedures and provided corruption prevention advice to stamp out malpractices. The ICAC has been working closely with the FEHD to provide regular integrity training to its staff members of different ranks, continuously deepening their understanding of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and the offence of MIPO.