Courts Trial of former IPIM chief accused of corruption postponed

Jackson Chang, former President of the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute

The trial of Jackson Chang, former President of the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), due to commence yesterday, was postponed at the last minute.
The first hearing of the trial, in which Chang stands accused of corruption, was postponed by request of the public prosecutor after it learned that several defendants were absent without justification.
In October of 2018, Chang became the suspect of a criminal investigation for alleged irregularities at IPIM including the unlawful granting of residency status through investment and technical immigration applications.
The investigation followed a July report compiled by the Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) that exposed the irregularities, suggesting that IPIM had not done its due diligence in ensuring that investment and technical residency applications were processed according to the law.
The CCAC pointed out that IPIM lacked stringent vetting and approval mechanisms for major investment immigration applications. It also determined that the investment amounts of some major immigration investment projects were too low, and a significant number of the amounts in some of the major investment immigration project applications related to immovable property investments.
When processing technical immigration applications, there were problems such as a lack of stringent vetting and approval criteria, leading to technical immigration applicants rarely staying in Macau, and obtaining temporary residency through fictitious employment.
Chang’s case has a total of 26 defendants. The prosecution has 90 witnesses, of which 10 are from the Commission Against Corruption and 16 are from IPIM.
Chang is the first defendant and faces 18 charges, including one count of criminal syndicate, four counts of bribery, one count of breach of confidentiality, three counts of abuse of power, six counts of money laundering and three false declarations of property and interests.
Ian Iat Chun, a 48-year-old civil servant, is the second defendant. The third defendant is Glória Batalha Ung, a 57-year-old civil servant. These three defendants all previously served at IPIM. The fourth defendant is Ng Kuok Sao, a businessman aged 48, while the fifth defendant is 51-year-old businesswoman, Annette Ng.
The other defendants include Chang’s wife and daughter, as well as six individuals who allegedly obtained their Macau residency permits by bribery.
The indictment has divided the case into multiple parts, including organizing criminal groups, and bribery.
According to the indictment, Ng Kuok Sao and Annette Ng created the alleged criminal group in 2010. The pair own several companies in Macau. They are accused of forging fake employment records to make unqualified non-local people able to apply for residence in Macau, charging a high fee for the service.
After Jackson Chang was appointed as IPIM president in 2011, he came into frequent contact with Ng Kuok Sao. Since 2012, Ng Kuok Sao is said by the public prosecutor to have bribed Chang. The prosecution’s indictment claimed that Ng Kuok Sao bribed Chang so that he could obtain the confidential information in IPIM’s residence review procedure as well as the approval progress of an application at any time.
From 2014, Ng Kuok Sao is accused of bribing Ian Iat Chun by selling Ian properties in mainland China at a price far below the market level. Ian is accused of providing inside information for Ng Kuok Sao regarding IPIM’s residence application procedure. JZ