Lawyer involved in alleged prosecutor bribes denies role in case

The lawyer-defendant in the alleged bribery involving senior prosecutor Kong Chi has denied in court having played any part.

According to local media outlet All About Macau, the lawyer wept during her self-defence, which prompted presiding judge, Justice Tong Hio Fong, to ask if the session needed to be halted.

At the beginning of the session, Kuan Hoi Lon, fourth defendant and registered lawyer, confessed to having concealed information during the first judicial interrogation. The information she had concealed was related to her professional and taxation breaches.

She also admitted that during her “partnership” with Choi, her basic salary was MOP35,000 per month, in addition to a 15% commission from each case she handled, contradicting her previous testimony where she had claimed she charged Choi tips and administrative fees.

Moreover, she did not clearly disclose her relationship with Choi because being hired by a non-lawyer raises concerns over her impartiality.

She is accused of participating in the criminal syndicate to help defendants in cases – whether handled by Kong or otherwise – either get acquitted, receive reduced sentences, or retrieve items under custody.

To explain her partnership with Choi, the lawyer said that when she had training at her previous employer, she was only paid a 40% commission from each case she handled and received no basic salary. This, she said, could only support her basic needs.

She further said that after obtaining her lawyer registration, her former employer told her that the registration would not mean she would receive a basic salary and asked what she thought about that. She said that she had never expected to become unemployed once she was successfully registered as a lawyer.

Kuan said that in 2012 she came across Choi in the street when she was with her family, and Choi told her that he wanted to open a law firm. After some consideration, she decided to partner with Choi.

Kuan said that she was told by Choi about another Portuguese lawyer who was in the partnership but worked at another address. She was told that the Portuguese lawyer could be contacted for legal opinions, suggestions or recommendations. However, this condition only lasted for a few months.

The partnership ended about two years later, after Kuan realized that she had no colleague to help her with work and that her commission was consistently shrinking. She added that Choi would share part of the legal fees to third parties who referred cases to the law firm, and believed that Choi was somewhat deceptive.

She also said she could not tolerate Choi acting as her employer and that she thought she deserved better at that time.

On legal charges, she disclosed that it depended on the economic status of clients.

During the session, the prosecution showed records of communications between Kong and Choi to Kuan. Kuan denied knowing anything about it, adding that she was only in contact with Choi for these cases.

Kuan added that she had never contacted Kong – “not even to send her regards” – nor was she aware of the relationship between Kong and Choi.

The third defendant Ng Wai Chu, the husband of second defendant Choi Sao Ieng, remained silent during his question session.