Hong Kong Customs today (July 24) arrested a male director of a child development centre suspected of engaging in wrongly accepting payment when selling training programmes, in contravention of the Trade Descriptions Ordinance (TDO).
Customs earlier received numerous complaints alleging that a child development centre in Lai Chi Kok suddenly announced business closure on July 9 and failed to provide prepaid training programmes and arrange refunds for customers.
Customs officers then swiftly conducted an investigation and found that the centre still accepted payments for prepaid programmes even when anticipating that it would be unable to continue operating. A 36-year-old local male director of the child development centre was subsequently arrested today.
An investigation is ongoing, and the arrested man was held for inquiry.
Customs has been paying close attention to the incident and called on members of the public affected by the incident to provide information. Customs reminds traders to comply with the requirements of the TDO. Traders should not accept advance payments from consumers if they are uncertain whether the pertinent services can be delivered to consumers within a specific or reasonable time. Consumers are also reminded to procure services at reputable shops and think prudently before making decisions regarding consumption by prepayment. After purchasing services, consumers should keep the transaction receipts and related records, which can become basic information in case a complaint is lodged in the future.
Under the TDO, any trader commits an offence if, at the time of acceptance of payment, the trader intends not to supply the service or intends to supply a materially different service, or there are no reasonable grounds for believing that the trader will be able to supply the service within a specified or reasonable period. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for five years.
Members of the public may report any suspected violations of the TDO to Customs' 24-hour hotline 182 8080 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002).