Government wrongfully took cash from account
GOVERNMENT staff took more than $5,000 from a man's bank account without notifying him in a mistaken attempt to retrieve welfare payments, it was revealed yesterday.
Social Welfare Department (SWD) spokesman Donald Lam Ping-kuen admitted staff had bungled last month when they took the cash from Wilson Leung Tit-fung, who was not on a welfare programme.
Insurance underwriter Mr Leung said the officials took $5,408 from his Hongkong Bank account to recoup money paid to his grandmother, who died recently. Neither the bank nor the department gave him notice, he said.
Mr Leung said he had applied for a $8,400 burial grant after the death of his grandmother, who had received a monthly Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) payment of $5,408. He gave the SWD his PowerVantage account number, to which the grant money was to be credited.
But a few days later, Mr Leung discovered the SWD had taken the cash from the account. Staff told him it was the amount overpaid to his late grandmother.
Mr Lam said the department could withdraw any overpayment from the accounts of people on CSSA or other welfare programmes, if they had signed an SWD consent form.
'There are over 100,000 recipients of welfare payment in Hong Kong. Thus, for the sake of convenience it is impossible to submit [all] the evidence to the bank separately.' However, under the present system, the SWD did not have to prove an account-holder was on welfare before asking the bank to debit their account.
'There is a block Letter of Indemnity signed by the banks and governmental departments to ensure the Government will be responsible for the bank's loss if their clients sue the bank,' said Mr Lam. 'If we can provide the name and the account number to the bank, we have the full right to get the money.' SWD officers had meant to debit the grandmother's account, he added, stressing that the department had never made this kind of mistake before. The SWD had apologised to Mr Leung, he said.
However, Mr Leung questioned the SWD's sweeping powers to demand cash from his account.
'Where is the safety and guarantee of our property when their authority is so great?' he asked.
'If they really overpaid the money, it is reasonable for them to withdraw it, but in fact I have never been paid [welfare].
'The Government should respect our personal property. Whenever it wants to get our money, it should notify us in advance. If I had planned to use that amount for a specific purpose, what could I do then?' Hongkong Bank external relations manager Pamela George said the SWD was responsible for ensuring it debited the correct account.
'They would indemnify us if they are wrong, and we'll assume our customers have signed an agreement with the SWD to withdraw any overpayment.
'It is not in our power to verify [the account number]. It is the same when the police give us a court order and we have to follow their instruction. We have no way to verify the court order,' she said.
