ICAC to probe hawker stand-in claims

The ICAC has been asked to investigate newspaper claims that hawker control teams have been allowing those they arrest to pay elderly people to be prosecuted instead.

Urban Services Department head Elaine Chung Lai-kwok said staff who did not follow the rules would not be tolerated.

'The most important things is whether the allegation is right or not,' she said.

'I always believe trees will only be strong if we get rid of the broken branches. I will hide nothing.' The department's assistant director, Lee Kwok-kuen, said no complaints had been received since a few cases several years ago when licensed hawkers stood in for illegal hawkers during prosecutions.