Hong Kong | Billionaire Kwok jailed 5 years for corrupting official

Former co-chairman of Hong Kong developer Sun Hung Kai Properties, Thomas Kwok, left, and former Sun Hung Kai Properties Executive Director Chan Kui-yuen

Billionaire Thomas Kwok, the former Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd. co-chairman, was sentenced to five years in jail and fined HK$500,000 (USD64,460) for conspiring to corrupt Hong Kong’s No. 2 official.
Rafael Hui, 66, the city’s chief secretary from 2005 to 2007, was sentenced to 7 1/2 years for five charges including taking HK$8.5 million from Kwok to be favorably disposed to Sun Hung Kai, the world’s second-most valuable real estate firm. Thomas Chan, a former executive director of the company, was jailed for six years while Francis Kwan got five years.
Hong Kong’s biggest graft trial ended last week with a nine-member jury finding the four men guilty and Kwok stepping down from the company he headed with his younger brother Raymond Kwok since 2011. Raymond was acquitted of all four charges against him and continues as the sole chairman of Sun Hung Kai, which has said the case doesn’t affect its business.
“It is vitally important in these times that the Hong Kong government and business community remain and are seen to remain corruption free,” High Court Judge Andrew Macrae said in delivering his sentences yesterday. “Particularly when the mainland is taking positive steps to eradicate the cancer of corruption.”
Thomas Kwok, 63, who nodded his head as his sentencing was translated to him, was also disqualified for five years as a company director. He and Chan agreed to pay HK$12.5 million each toward the prosecution’s costs. Hui, who is bankrupt, was ordered to pay the government HK$11.2 million of bribes he took under one of the charges.
Macrae said he discounted the jail terms the men could have received due to factors including their health, ages and previous good character, noting that if not for the “tragic flaw” of Hui’s desire to sustain the high life, he might have gone down in history as one of the city’s finest chief secretaries.
There is no doubt, the judge said, that Thomas Kwok is a compassionate, sincere and good man, genuinely motivated by his Christian faith. “You will appreciate that where there is pain in the night there will be joy in the morning,” Macrae said, addressing the billionaire.
Kwok and Thomas Chan, 68, will be appealing their convictions. Kwan’s lawyer said the 64-year-old was considering an appeal while Hui’s lawyer said he had no instructions on a possible appeal.
Kwok smiled and gave a thumbs up to his family and supporters in the court after the hearing was adjourned and he was led away. His younger brother Raymond was among those present in the public gallery. Kwok had been acquitted of two charges.
Sun Hung Kai shares rose 2.2 percent on Monday, the most in 2 1/2 months, as they resumed trading for the first time since the verdicts. The stock advanced 0.7 percent yesterday to close at HK$116.60.
The seven-month trial heard evidence from more than 80 witnesses with tales of mistresses, gangsters and secret payments, which the defense had argued were necessary due to family difficulties.
At one stage, Hui told the court that one of the payments he was charged with receiving came from a Beijing official. Macrae said yesterday that the jury had rejected that and decided that one of the shell companies used for the payments was a sham.
Both brothers have a net worth of at least $10.6 billion each, ranking them among Asia’s top 25 richest, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Douglas Wong and Shai Oster, Bloomberg