An insurance broker accused of helping pregnant mainland women lie to doctors in order to obtain maternity spaces at Queen Elizabeth Hospital confessed under coercion from police, her lawyer said yesterday.
The allegation was made by Paul Francis, for Lo Hiu-yin, who is on trial in Kowloon City Court on four counts of conspiracy to obtain services by deception.
Lo, 36, pleaded not guilty at an earlier hearing. The trial is expected to conclude today.
Magistrate Lee Siu-ho heard that Lo had been running a lawfully operated business with her husband to assist mainland women obtain obstetric services in Hong Kong.
But four of Lo's clients, Sun Xiaoli, Gao Xiaoli, Xu Manlan and Zhou Xifeng - all two-way permit holders - gave birth in June and July 2011 after supplying fraudulent documents claiming their due dates were in November 2011, records provided by Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei showed.
Earlier that year, the hospital had given public notice that it would have no more bed spaces available for non-local women with due dates on or before October 31, 2011, prosecutor Betty Fu Yuet-yee said.