Hong Kong taxi driver jailed 8 weeks, fined HK$3,000 after overcharging undercover officer and fleeing scene

A taxi driver has been sentenced to eight weeks in prison and fined HK$3,000 after he was caught overcharging an undercover police officer and then sped away to flee the scene. Photo: Lea Mok/HKFP Chan Wai-kee, 64, appeared at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts on Tuesday, local media reported. He pleaded guilty to one count of careless driving and two charges related to overcharging. Chan admitted to committing the offences on April 29, when an undercover police officer boarded his taxi as part of a sting operation in Happy Valley targeting rogue taxi drivers. According to case details, Chan quoted a flat fare of HK$280 when the officer asked in Mandarin to go to the InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong in Tsim Sha Tsui – around HK$150 more than the legally prescribed rate. Chan then drove off without starting the taximeter. Upon arriving at the hotel, the undercover officer paid with cash and exited the vehicle. Another plainclothes officer then approached the driver’s window and identified himself as police. Chan accelerated suddenly and sped away, endangering the officers and nearby pedestrians. The following day, he surrendered to police, identifying himself as the driver involved in the incident. Eastern Magistrates Court. Photo: Selina Cheng/HKFP. The court heard that Chan had 32 prior criminal convictions, including some linked to overcharging and similar offences. He also had seven earlier traffic convictions, including two for careless driving. The defence highlighted Chan’s voluntary surrender in mitigation, saying that it demonstrated genuine remorse, and argued that he was unlikely to reoffend since the taxi association would no longer issue him a license. Principal Magistrate David Cheung said that Chan risked injury to others in attempting to flee, and he therefore considered imprisonment appropriate. Under Hong Kong law, the maximum penalty for overcharging is six months’ imprisonment and a fine of HK$10,000. Careless driving also carries a maximum penalty of six months in prison, as well as a $5,000 fine. Safeguard press freedom; keep HKFP free for all readers by supporting our team Support HKFP | Policies & Ethics | Error/typo? | Contact | Newsletter | Transparency & Annual Report | Apps Make a one-off donation. Irene Chan is a reporter at Hong Kong Free Press and has an interest in covering political and social change. She previously worked at Initium Media as chief editor for Hong Kong news and was a community organiser at the Society for Community Organisation serving the underprivileged. She has a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Fudan University and a master’s degree in social work from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Irene is the recipient of two Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) awards and three honourable mentions for her investigative, feature and video reporting. She also received a Human Rights Press Award for multimedia reporting and an honourable mention for feature writing. More by Irene Chan