Hong Kong academic accreditation body understated fraud cases: auditor
Authorities want accreditation body to update guidelines on handling suspected fake academic qualification, make police reports more promptly
Hong Kong’s academic accreditation body has understated the number of suspected fraudulent qualification cases in its annual reports for years, the Audit Commission has found.
The auditor on Wednesday called on the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications to improve the accuracy of its reporting, update its guidelines on handling suspected fake academic qualifications and report suspicious cases to police in a more timely manner.
According to a report by the commission, the accreditation body reported 113 cases of suspected fraudulent academic qualifications to the force between the 2019-20 and 2023-24 school years. A total of 32 cases were reported in 2023-24 alone, a 78 per cent jump from the 18 in 2021-22.
But the auditor found that the number of such cases disclosed in the council’s annual reports had been understated for three consecutive years from 2019-20.
While the council reported 16 suspected fraudulent academic qualification cases to police that year, it claimed it only found eight cases – half of the actual figure – in its annual report.
It also understated the number of suspected cases by one and five respectively in the following years. In 2021-22, it reported 18 cases to police but stated only 13 cases in its annual report.