The ICAC on Thursday said five people, aged between 27 and 57, have been arrested for allegedly defrauding the government of subsidy funds.

The alleged scam first came to light when the Social Welfare Department (SWD) received a report last year that its community care service voucher scheme was being targeted by fraudsters.

The scheme gives eligible elderly people vouchers to buy community care services, including day and home care, from recognised service providers.

Following the report, the matter was referred to the ICAC, which arrested two men and three women last month.

The anti-graft body’s principal investigator, Matthew Chang, said a registered nurse and a registered occupational therapist – who each operate an SWD-recognised private care agency – are believed to be the masterminds behind the alleged scam.

“The arrestees had made use of their healthcare professions, background and connections to attract members of the public to arrange for the elderly people to join the scheme and make false representations to the Social Welfare Department,” Chang said.

“The false representations include falsely claiming that the care agencies have provided home care and support service to the elderly people. The agencies, in fact, did not provide any service to the elderly at home.”

The other three suspects are employees of one of the care agencies.

All five have since been released on bail.

The two care agencies provided services to about 20 to 200 elderly people each month and received about HK$18 million in subsidy funding since mid-2023 until the arrests, Chang noted.

However, as not all subsidy claims are fraudulent, the exact amount of the alleged fraudulent claims remains under investigation, he added.

The ICAC also didn't rule out the possibility of further arrests.

Jenny Yan, assistant director at the department, said the two service providers are still operating.

“Subject to the investigation result of ICAC, the SWD will consider terminating the service agreement with the service providers concerned,” she said.

“If there are any subsidies released to non-entitled bodies, the SWD shall take appropriate action to recover all the overpayments.”

Yan added the department has also contacted individuals receiving services at the agencies to ensure that they have received the services they need.