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Doctor couple given suspended four-month registration removal over supermarket theft
Former Hospital Authority chief manager Vivien Chuang Wai-man and her orthopedist husband Chiu Ming-yu have each been ordered to have their names removed from the medical register for four months, suspended for two years, after they were convicted of shoplifting at an AEON supermarket.
The couple were found guilty of stealing items from an AEON store in Whampoa on April 23, 2022. The goods included a watermelon, a melon, strawberries, sashimi, sushi, puddings and chicken, with a total value of HK$1,632.80.
They later applied to the High Court for an appeal to the Court of Final Appeal but were refused. Each was fined HK$5,000.
At a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday morning, the Medical Council said their conviction had damaged the reputation of the medical profession.
In mitigation, the defense submitted letters from several senior medical figures. Former Hospital Authority chief executive Tony Ko Pat-sing praised Chuang’s achievements and contributions in microbiology and infectious disease control.
Yuen Kwok-yung, Chair Professor of Infectious Diseases at the University of Hong Kong’s Department of Microbiology, said he had known Chuang for 20 years and described her as diligent, honest and committed to self-improvement.
Patrick Yung Shu-hang, clinical director of orthopaedics and traumatology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, described Chiu as professional, reliable and compassionate toward patients.
Taking into account the couple’s remorse, the court’s handling of the case and their contributions to medicine, the council ordered their names to be removed from the medical register for four months, with the penalty suspended for 24 months.
Hospital Authority
EARLIER IN 2023
A senior Hospital Authority executive and her husband have been fined HK$5,000 (US$641) each for shoplifting at a Hong Kong supermarket after failing to convince a court the theft was due to negligence.
Hospital Authority chief manager Vivien Chuang Wai-man, 49, and orthopaedist Chiu Ming-yu, 48, were found guilty of a joint count of theft during a session at Kowloon City Court on Thursday.
“This court has absolutely no doubt about your abilities and contributions to society,” Magistrate Frances Leung Nga-yan told the accused before sentencing. “The outcome of the present case is regrettable, but everyone is equal before the law.”
The couple were found to have stolen a watermelon, a melon, two puddings, two packs of blueberries, two portions of sashimi, a box of sushi and a bag of pre-packed chicken worth HK$1,632 from an AEON store at Whampoa Garden in Hung Hom on April 23 last year.
They told the court the food items slipped their minds when they proceeded to a self-service checkout.
They claimed they were busy with work and worried about the safety of their 16-year-old daughter, who was living in a coronavirus-hit district in the mainland Chinese city of Hangzhou at the time.
The AEON store at Whampoa Garden in Hung Hom. Photo:
The two doctors spent around HK$600 on 23 products that day but did not scan the bar codes of 10 others, which were worth more than double those they bought, the trial earlier this year was told.
But Leung said the supermarket’s CCTV footage showed the couple were more focused than distracted, as they were had been careful enough to check which items they had paid for or not after shopping.
She also highlighted the pair’s statements made under caution to police, when they admitted stealing the food items out of momentary greed.
Under caution, they each told police they had stolen the 10 items for themselves.
The defence asked the court to ignore the incriminating remarks as they were misled by their arresting officer into believing they could be let go if they cooperated with the investigation.
But Leung found no evidence to suggest that police had extracted a confession from the duo by means of inducement or other forms of duress.
Chiu, a consultant doctor at Caritas Medical Centre, claimed he briefly lost focus as he was checking mainland flight schedules on his mobile phone during checkout.
Chuang, who works as a chief manager for infection, emergency and contingency at the authority, also maintained she was concerned at the time about not being able to secure a flight ticket for her daughter.
But the magistrate noted the pair did not mix up any items or scan a bar code twice out of negligence during the entire process. Instead, CCTV footage showed Chuang consciously putting some of the items into her bag without first adding them to the checkout list.
Defence lawyers said in mitigation that the conviction was sufficient punishment for the couple, who would be suspended from work while awaiting medical disciplinary proceedings.
Defence counsel Rachel Po Hi-hau, who pleaded leniency for Chuang, said the authority manager had spared no effort in tackling the city’s coronavirus outbreak over the past three years.
The lawyer submitted a letter written by Professor Yuen Kwok-yung, a leading microbiologist and government pandemic adviser, who lauded Chuang’s significant contribution to curtailing the Covid-19 outbreak.
Senior Counsel Lawrence Lok Ying-kam, speaking for Chiu, said the offence was out of character and highlighted the defendant had once turned in a necklace to police as lost property without taking it for himself.
The couple did not respond to questions from the press when they left court.
Standard procedures provide that doctors convicted of criminal offences are required to undergo disciplinary procedures by the Medical Council to review whether they can continue to practise.
An authority spokesman said both Chuang and Chiu were currently on leave but declined to comment on the case.
Additional reporting by Elizabeth Cheung
