HK tycoons plead not guilty to graft charges
Source: Agencies |
March 9, 2013, Saturday
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Print Edition
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HONG Kong's billionaire Kwok brothers pleaded not guilty to graft charges yesterday, setting the stage for the city's biggest corruption trial in years.
The pleas entered by Thomas and Raymond Kwok all but ensure their case will head to trial in the city's High Court.
The brothers are joint chairmen of Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd, one of Hong Kong's biggest developers. Forbes estimates they are the third richest people in Hong Kong, with a combined net worth of US$20 billion.
Anti-corruption police arrested and charged the Kwoks last year, along with three others. Prosecutors had alleged that the prominent developers gave bribes in exchange for lucrative information on pending land sales. But they slightly revised the charges, dropping the bribery charge against Raymond Kwok. The brothers still face charges of misconduct and providing false information.
The three other defendants also pleaded not guilty. They include Rafael Hui, formerly the second highest ranking government official; a former senior officer at stock exchange operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing; and an executive director at Sun Hung Kai. Hui is alleged to have provided land sale information to the Kwoks between 2005 and 2007.
The corruption scandal shocked the financial center, where residents have traditionally revered the city's tycoons. But widening inequality, much of it linked to skyrocketing housing costs, means that has given way in recent years to public anger over the billionaire class, many of whom made their fortunes in property.
The pleas entered by Thomas and Raymond Kwok all but ensure their case will head to trial in the city's High Court.
The brothers are joint chairmen of Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd, one of Hong Kong's biggest developers. Forbes estimates they are the third richest people in Hong Kong, with a combined net worth of US$20 billion.
Anti-corruption police arrested and charged the Kwoks last year, along with three others. Prosecutors had alleged that the prominent developers gave bribes in exchange for lucrative information on pending land sales. But they slightly revised the charges, dropping the bribery charge against Raymond Kwok. The brothers still face charges of misconduct and providing false information.
The three other defendants also pleaded not guilty. They include Rafael Hui, formerly the second highest ranking government official; a former senior officer at stock exchange operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing; and an executive director at Sun Hung Kai. Hui is alleged to have provided land sale information to the Kwoks between 2005 and 2007.
The corruption scandal shocked the financial center, where residents have traditionally revered the city's tycoons. But widening inequality, much of it linked to skyrocketing housing costs, means that has given way in recent years to public anger over the billionaire class, many of whom made their fortunes in property.
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