Two staff members in supervisory positions at CUHK Medical Centre have been dismissed for allegedly abusing their authority to defraud money from the hospital, Chinese University said on Tuesday.

The university said the pair were arrested by law enforcement authorities on September 18, and the teaching hospital terminated their employment in compliance with the law.

Chung Kin-lai, who took on the role as CEO of the medical centre in July, said the alleged case was uncovered following a review of financial records.

“In order to understand thoroughly the operation of the hospital, it was necessary for me to check the financial reports of all departments. In the course of the review. It came to my attention that there were anomalies with the transactions of a department,” he said.

“And I therefore immediately instructed an in-depth investigation internally. Anomalies were found.”

Chung stressed that hospital operations and patient treatment have not been affected.

Dennis Lo, vice chancellor of the university who's also chairman of the hospital, pledged to implement measures to close loopholes in the system.

An investigation committee has been set up and the hospital has also commissioned an external audit firm to conduct a thorough review of its governing mechanism, Lo added.

He said the findings of the investigation will be announced to the public in due course.