Police
The Hong Kong Police Force ensures a safe and stable society by upholding the rule of law, maintaining law and order, preventing and detecting crime, and safeguarding and protecting life and property.
Social Welfare
The Social Welfare Department implements the welfare policies the Labour & Welfare Bureau formulates. Its services include social security, services for the elderly, family and child welfare services, services for young people and rehabilitation and medical social services.
Police have arrested 48 people for making bogus Traffic Accident Victim Assistance claims involving $2.1 million.
From mid-2008 to September this year, a number of traffic accidents took place in remote or suburban areas, involving cars crashing into barriers or trees causing minor damage. All drivers and passengers claimed to have sustained twisting injuries. Most submitted falsified information to the Social Welfare Department, together with sick leave certificates, to claim for assistance.
Police arrested 44 men and four women aged 16 to 54 in an operation on November 21 and 22, who had each swindled up to $53,000 in claims. Five are believed to be the scam masterminds.
The department's Traffic Accident Victims Assistance Section has implemented a vetting mechanism to examine documents and information on traffic accidents, and sick leave certificates provided by claimants. The number of referrals made to the Police has grown from 11 and 15 cases in 2007-08 and 2008-09, to 79 cases in 2009-10.
