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Former top Hong Kong official found guilty in Sun Hung Kai corruption case
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Hong Kong’s former No 2 official has been found guilty of accepting HK$8.5m (£700,000) in bribes from executives of the Sun Hung Kai Properties development company, in the city’s most high-profile corruption case.
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The jury of six women and three men reached their verdicts on Friday after deliberating for five days following a trial that exposed the cosy relationship between the city’s powerful developers and government.
Rafael Hui, 66, who headed Hong Kong’s civil service from 2005-07, was found guilty of three counts of misconduct in public office and two counts of conspiracy to commit misconduct. He had faced eight charges related to bribery and misconduct in public office, all of which he denied.
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Sun Hung Kai executive Thomas Kwok and businessman Francis Kwan were both found guilty of two charges of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office and conspiracy to offer an advantage to a public servant.
The corruption trial highlighted lavish spending by Hui, a racehorse owner and opera fanatic who enjoyed an extravagant lifestyle. He admitted to spending HK$200,000 on music records in a single day in 2007 and travelled internationally to indulge his passions.
Prosecutors accused him of spending vast sums on costly organic bran and carrots for his thoroughbred horse.
Married since 1974, Hui admitted lavishing millions on a young Shanghai woman after they started a relationship in 2008.
The tales tarnished a public service career in which Hui rose through the colonial-era ranks to become the deputy to Hong Kong’s outgoing chief executive, Donald Tsang.
The usually jovial Hui, friends with the Kwoks since childhood through Macau family connections, sat expressionless, staring at the judge as the verdicts were announced.
The judge is expected to sentence the defendants, who face years in prison, on Monday.
The guilty verdicts send a message that Hong Kong’s political and business elite are not untouchable in a city where many believe they have enjoyed unfair privileges, and provides a boost to the city’s Independent Commission Against Corruption, which has faced criticism in recent years that it has struggled to land big cases.
