ICAC丨Professor from HKUST Charged with Bribery and Distributing Lai See to Help Students Gain Admission to Master's Program

A former chair professor at HKUST is suspected of accepting a bribe of 40,000 HKD from a friend and giving red envelopes to two colleagues to help a student gain admission to the master’s program at HKUST. The two have been charged by ICAC and released on bail, scheduled to appear in Kwun Tong Magistrates’ Court tomorrow.

63-year-old Liu Hongbin is a former chair professor of Marine Science at HKUST, and his 60-year-old friend Lin Peiling. From March to May 2025, Liu Hongbin was the program director for the Master of Science, responsible for reviewing admissions applications and conducting interviews to determine the admission list. He is suspected of accepting a bribe of 40,000 HKD from Lin Peiling to assist a student in gaining admission to the master’s program for the 2025/26 academic year.

Liu Hongbin is also suspected of giving red envelopes of 5,000 HKD and 1,000 HKD respectively to two Marine Science department staff responsible for admissions, to help the student get admitted and handle related matters. The two staff members refused to accept the money and reported the incident to HKUST.

Investigations revealed that someone had asked Lin Peiling to help the student gain admission, and sought Liu Hongbin’s assistance. The student’s academic qualifications did not meet the basic requirements for admission, and ultimately, the student was not admitted.