Hong Kong lawmaker targeted in scam offering ‘standing committee’ spot in exchange for ‘service fee’
- Edward Lau says he was contacted by someone claiming to work for Beijing’s liaison office in the city who offered him the national-level post for HK$500,000
- The person also claimed that Lau’s fellow lawmaker Kenneth Fok had agreed to the terms, a claim Fok denied when Lau contacted him
A Hong Kong pro-establishment lawmaker has reported being targeted in an apparent scam in which a “middleman” claiming to work for the central government offered him a national-level post in exchange for a “service fee” of HK$500,000 (US$63,940).
Edward Lau Kwok-fan, of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, said he received suspicious texts on Wednesday evening from someone who professed to work for Beijing’s liaison office in the city, telling him he would be given a “standing committee” spot if he was willing to pay up.
The sender did not specify which standing committee, but the term typically refers to the upper echelons of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
The places are usually reserved for the most senior Beijing loyalists in the city, including former chief secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen, who is one of 18 Hong Kong representatives on the CPPCC’s standing committee, and Tam Yiu-chung, the city’s sole delegate to the NPC’s.
“I know that it’s common for people to get scam calls, and it’s important to look into them. I have a first-person experience to share today,” Lau said in a video posted to Facebook on Thursday morning.
