Courts | Alan Ho trial coming to a close

The trial of six defendants accused of crimes relating to a prostitution ring operating in Hotel Lisboa, among them the former executive director of the hotel Alan Ho, will soon be coming to an end.
The final stage of the allegations is expected to start on March 4, almost two months after the first session in the Court of First Instance (TJB).
Yesterday during another session of the trial, the panel of judges, presided over by judge Rui Ribeiro, expressed the belief that a final sentence could be reached in the early days of April.
The trial is now reaching its decisive moments. On March 4 the court will hear the defense submissions from the lawyers of the six accused, as well as the arguments from the public prosecutor.
During yesterday’s session, the court heard the witnesses in favor of the defendants Peter Lun, Bruce Mak and Pun Cham Un, the defendants who are facing the lightest charges in the group: three counts of prostitution exploitation and one count of participation in a criminal association.
Alan Ho, Stanley Ho’s nephew, is being accused of forming and leading a criminal association and has been charged with ninety counts of criminal exploitation. This accusation is also shared by defendants Kelly Wong, Peter Lun and Bruce Mak.
Qiao Yan Yan, the former assistant of Kelly Wong, is accused of ninety counts of prostitution exploitation and participation in a criminal association.
Earlier this week, Alan Ho’s lawyer, Neto Valente, challenged the prosecutor to present a certificate for criminal proceedings against another official of Hotel Lisboa, Louis Ieong, who during the trial was accused of involvement in the case. The public prosecutor had not taken any action in relation to Ieong.  RM