Hong Kong microbiologist struck off medical register for year after being jailed for fraud, misconduct in public office

Medical Council says Joseph Kam has not shown remorse over HK$4.25 million fraud case in which World Health Organization, two overseas institutions were deceived

Kam was convicted in the District Court of four charges of misconduct in public office and two of fraud in 2022

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A Medical Council inquiry panel has said it is shocked the defendant still maintains that he is not dishonest. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Published: 8:33pm, 5 Apr 2024Updated: 9:07pm, 5 Apr 2024

A former consultant microbiologist with the Hong Kong government has been struck off the medical register for a year after being sentenced to 31 months in jail for misconduct in public office and fraud.

The Medical Council said on Friday that Joseph Kam Kai-man did not show any remorse despite being convicted in 2022 of orchestrating a fraudulent scheme to deceive the World Health Organization (WHO) and two overseas institutions into paying him more than HK$4.25 million (US$544,870) worth of research grants and service fees.

Kam was convicted in the District Court of four charges of misconduct in public office and two of fraud upon his own admission.

Joseph Kam was jailed for 31 months. Photo: YouTube

“We are shocked that the defendant still maintained that he was not dishonest, and had derived no benefit from all the sums involved,” wrote Dr Gabriel Choi Kin, chairman of the council’s inquiry panel into Kam’s case.

The watchdog removed Kam’s name from the general register for medical practitioners for 12 months.

Choi said the criminal offences Kam committed were “very serious” and involved dishonesty and breach of trust over a long period of time, and that he had served a prison sentence.

“However, we still do not find the defendant [to be] remorseful,” he said. “There is nothing to convince us the defendant has [been] rehabilitated.”