Ho defends hiring of family members

During the second session of the trial of the former prosecutor general, Ho Chio Meng defended the hiring of family members by denying that it was a case of nepotism and maintaining that it was simply the result of the small population of the territory.

Ho refuted prosecutors’ allegations that he had organized and awarded public contracts to family members by claiming that he was unaware his relatives were contractors of the Public Prosecutions Office (MP).

Another of the charges levied yesterday against the former prosecutor general concerned alleged unauthorized family trips to Europe, amounting to around MOP220,000 of illicit public funding.

In one instance Ho was accused of bringing his wife and child to the Netherlands after a business trip to Denmark. Ho defended the decision by claiming that his wife had been invited to attend the event and their child was not old enough to be left unaccompanied. The trip was also approved by the then-chief executive, Edmund Ho, according to Ho Chio Meng.

In response to claims made during the first session that Ho had set up a guesthouse in Cheoc Van on behalf of the MP but actually for his personal use, the former prosecutor argued the site was used exclusively to host meetings with officials from Macau and mainland China. Among the guests were top prosecutors from the mainland and members of the chief executive’s electoral committee, claimed Ho.

He is being accused of having abused his power to gain effective ownership of the site, which included entertainment facilities such as a sauna and a karaoke machine. Personal belongings of Ho were also discovered at the guesthouse, it has been revealed.

The next session of his trial will be held tomorrow. DB