Courts | Ho used villa in Cheoc Van for personal matters, witness claims

The trial of former top prosecutor Ho Chio Meng continued yesterday with the questioning of several witnesses. The first witness called to the stand in the morning was a porter. The prosecution side started by presenting a pay cheque for MOP53,620, which was given to the porter by Wong Kuok Wai (the businessman accused of opening shelf companies with Ho Chio Meng). The porter admitted that he would always cut 15 percent off from the payment and give it to Wong. The prosecution then presented another pay cheque, for MOP63,940, which Wong had handed over to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) as a service quotation. Wong had previously claimed to be unaware of how there came to be a difference in the values on the two cheques.

The second witness surnamed Kuong, was one of Ho’s former drivers. Kuong said that one night, in February 2015, he drove Ho to the Liaison Office after he had been to the Commission Against Corruption (CCAC). Kuong said that once Ho finished visiting the Liaison Office, he then told Kuong to take him to his official residence.

However, on their way to Ho’s residence, Ho instructed the driver to take him a villa in Cheoc Van, Coloane, instead. The villa was rented for MOP46,000 a month between 2006 and 2014 by the MP. It was supposedly used to receive guests. When questioned about the Cheoc Van villa, Kuong informed that he used to pick up Ho, his wife and his children at this location.

After leaving the villa, Kuong noticed that Ho was carrying something wrapped in newspaper. Kuong explained that he then drove Ho to the Dynasty Plaza. At this point, the prosecutors showed a picture of some agarwood pieces, and Kuong confirmed the pieces as being the items that were wrapped in newspaper that night.

Moreover, according to Kuong, at Ho’s request he used to constantly deliver sealed packages to a bank. He thought the packages contained passbooks. Despite all this, Kuong never visited the 16th floor of the Hotline Center.

In his cross-examination, Ho’s lawyer, Leong Weng Pun, asked Kuong how he knew that the agarwood showed in the court was the one wrapped in the newspaper if it had been covered.

Kuong explained that part of the newspaper was open, allowing him to see something that looked like wood. Kuong said that later, after reading the news, he realized that what he had seen was the agarwood.

Leong immediately reminded Kuong to not talk about the news, and said that “we are talking about facts.” Kuong then said that he was not sure what was wrapped in the newspaper.

Leong posed a similar question regarding Kuong’s knowledge of what was inside the packages he delivered to the bank.

Kuong replied by saying that he never opened any of the packages and that he believed  passbooks could have been inside because he “felt” their approximate shape when he held the packages.

The third witness, surnamed Leong, is currently an employee at a property management company located in Cheoc Van.

He has been working at this location since 1998. Leong said that he used to see Ho visiting Cheoc Van villa with other people whom he did not know.

Leong noted that he also saw vehicles with special plates, as well as Ho’s wife, who would always visit for a period shorter than one hour.

Presiding Judge Sam Hou Fai asked Leong how often he saw the cars with special plates.

Leong kept reminding the judge that he saw them more frequently in earlier years, while in recent years he saw them less frequently. He also saw people wearing suits standing outside the villa.

The third witness used to be paid by someone, commonly addressed as “Wai,” to clean the villa that the MP had rented.

The third witness said that he saw both adults and children inside the house, although he did not know who they were.

The male witness also confirmed that he saw Ho’s pictures inside the house, but was then uncertain about whether he had seen the other objects that the judge asked him if he could recognize.

By the end of the morning session, Ho declared that he indeed visited Cheoc Van Villa on weekends, driving himself and his family to the location.

He explained that he was busy working during the week and that he did not like not being with his family on weekends.

Therefore, he would drive his own car to the villa to meet the MP’s guests, as well as “counterparts from the judiciary system.”

Three witnesses were present at the court in the afternoon. The first one used to be a domestic helper for Ho’s father, and also helped at the Cheac Van villa by cooking meals for Ho and his family, as well as serving some of Ho’s guests. However, she did not know the identity of any of the guests. The second witness was the nanny of Ho’s children.  The third witness was Teng Nga Kan, who is currently Chief of the Office of the Secretary for Economy and Finance. Teng used to work for the MP.

The court will resume tomorrow.

Chui unaware of Ho’s investigation

The Chief Executive (CE), Chui Sai On, said yesterday that he was unaware of the investigation involving former prosecutor general Ho Chio Meng when appointing him to be the coordinator of the Committee on Criminal and Legal Studies in February 2015. Talking at the airport before departing on an official visit to Fuzhou and Guangdong provinces, the CE claimed that Ho’s appointment was based on his experience and that he did not know Ho was being investigated. “When an official is called to testify it doesn’t mean that he has committed a crime,” the CE said, adding that at the time he saw no legal objections to making such a nomination.

Controversial trip to Denmark

Ho Chio Meng is accused of using public money to pay for private trips to northern Europe after attending an official event in Denmark.

Witness Teng Nga Kan went to Denmark with Ho on that official trip, and always accompanied him to the official event programs during that time.

Teng said that she had seen Ho’s wife but had never seen any of the other four Portuguese prosecutors’ spouses during the official programs of that event. The four Portuguese prosecutors attended the event as well.

Teng also did not remember having registered Ho’s wife to attend the event. However, she remembered having met Ho, Ho’s wife, and others, including a woman she did not recognize.

When Teng completed her testimony, Ho said that he did not remember whether Teng had been with him at the welcoming ceremony, which both he and his wife attended. He also said that on one of the nights during the trip, he and his wife were VIP guests at a banquet, but he did not remember whether Teng accompanied him to that banquet.

Prosecutor Kuok Un Man then requested the court to call Teng to return to court to prove whether she had been at the two events mentioned by Ho. However, Kuok’s appeal was refused by Presiding Judge Sam Hou Fai.