Teachers are supposed to be people you can trust and depend on. Teachers are one of the most important people in our children’s lives and are supposed to be at their position to help mold and shape the minds and lives of our children. One would not expect a teacher to cheat them out of money for a gambling habit, but that is exactly what one teacher in Hong Kong did.

Jacqueline Lau, age 37, teaches music at an elite Hong Kong school and was taking money from parents on the promise that she could get their children into the prestigious school. Lau has taken more than 80,000 United States dollars from parents by telling them they would be able to jump the queue for places into the fee paying school. Lau told the parents because she was head of admissions she would be able to do this.

Lau then turned around and used the money to pay off the large debts she had acquired from playing Mahjong. The South China Morning Post reported that Lau lost 13,000 United States dollars while playing Mahjong immediately after taking the money from a parent.

It was in July of 2007, that Lau was reported. She asked a parent for a “sincerity deposit” and that parent reported her to the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption. On Tuesday, Lau pleaded guilty to six counts of fraud and two of attempted fraud. Lau was placed in custody until background reports were finished and has been warned by the judge that she could go to jail when she is sentenced the later part of September.

It has been reported that there is great competition to get into the best schools in Hong Kong and many schools require a large sum of money just to get a child placed on the school list. This does not ensure the child will be accepted and the large sum is often non refundable.


- 2008-09-03