Top UK Barrister Quits Prosecution Case

QC David Perry has prosecuted many cases in Hong Kong

A few days ago there was a lot of surprise when the Hong Kong government announced it had hired a top barrister from the UK to prosecute nine high profile pro-democracy activists including Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, Martin Lee Chu-ming, Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee, and Lee Cheuk-yan for illegal assembly in Causeway Bay on August 18, 2019.

Queen's Counsel David Perry is considered a "top silk" and he has successfully prosecuted many other cases for the government, such as former chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen for misconduct in public office, former chief secretary Rafael Hui Si-yan for bribery, Nancy Kissel the "milkshake murderer", and former feng shui master Peter Chan.

Protest march in Victoria Park, August 18, 2019

When the Hong Kong government made the announcement on January 12, Perry had already agreed to take on the case, but there were a lot of questions.

One is, why couldn't a top lawyer in Hong Kong be found instead as he or she is being paid with taxpayer money, but it seems the government is keen on draining the city's coffers wherever possible.

Second we're in the midst of a pandemic -- and the UK is in a terrible wave at the moment barring all Hong Kong residents from returning for now. Is it really prudent to have Perry come over and be exempted from quarantine?

Third, the global optics of a Brit prosecuting democracy activists in Hong Kong who are trying to uphold the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Basic Law is ironic. 

Lawyer Ng was charged with illegal assembly

Fourth, does Perry understand his client is really Beijing and paying him to do its bidding? Can he sleep at night knowing this?

But as soon as word got out in the UK, there was a massive uproar with British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab leading the charge.

He said he couldn't understand how anyone in good conscience could take up such a case, adding that people would regard the move as being "pretty mercenary".

Raab, who is a former lawyer himself, also said getting Perry to take up the case was a "serious PR coup" for Beijing. Not to mention the fat payment he would have received for his services.

So today it was surprising to hear the news that Perry had pulled out of the case. Hong Kong's Department of Justice said on Wednesday that Perry "expressed concerns about such [political] pressures and the exemption of quarantine, and indicated that the trial should proceed without him."

Perhaps Perry at first thought it was a good gig, but the political pressure was too much to bear. Or that it looked bad he would be exempt from quarantine and the criticism wouldn't end? 

Lai was also charged in the same case

In any event the DOJ has said a local barrister has been hired, but no name revealed.

Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah said she was shocked -- shocked -- at the "disgraceful" attacks and political pressure.

"For such a reputable British Queen's Counsel to come to Hong Kong for a case which, in turn, surprisingly attracted so much unfair and biased attacks and views in Britain, it was not us underestimating [the backlash] at all," she said. "We are just shocked and could not have seen it coming."

It is bizarre that Cheng could not forsee the possible backlash of hiring Perry -- everything these days is political in Hong Kong. Even where you shop and eat represents your political stripes.

In fact the prosecution of these pro-democracy activists is a political act in itself.

Cheng was "shocked" Perry would be attacked

Did she not think about that? 

Record Voter Turnout

A relatively short line to vote around noon in my neighbourhood

This morning I woke up to find that some of my friends had already voted in the District Council elections. They had voted when the polling stations opened at 7.30am!

I thought I would do my usual routine of having breakfast but a bit earlier so I could go vote before heading to the swimming pool.

This morning the line snaked up the street on the left

But by the time I turned the corner a block away from the polling station, there was already a massive line that stretched around the block, almost to the housing estate at the top of the slope.

I wasn't prepared to wait so I headed to the pool first where I was out-swum by a Chinese guy who passed me every four laps!

Eventually I finished my swim, and at the MTR station picked up a sandwich thinking, if I have to wait in line, I might as well eat.

When I got out of the Kennedy Town MTR station just before noon I half expected a line right outside, but there wasn't one and I walked towards the polling station thinking the line would be around the corner, but instead it was very short.

I only had to wait about 15 minutes and too my relief no riot police in sight. As I lined up to get my ballot, there was an elderly woman in front of me. She gave the polling staff her ID card and then showed them a business card with the picture of the candidate running for the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong. He's actually the incumbent for my constituency.

This elderly woman on the right revealed who she voted for

The polling staff tried to tell the elderly woman to not show them who she would vote for and she didn't understand -- she thought she was voting at that moment. But they had yet to give her the ballot!

She didn't understand and they had to tell her to put that card away and then find someone to assist her while she voted.

For me it took less than a minute to vote, fold the ballot and then put it in the ballot box.

There was a massive voter surge in the morning that by early afternoon the number of votes was the same as the 2015 election -- which is surprising because I remember people waiting in long lines in the dark to vote.

In any event by 9.30pm a record 2.85 million people out of 4.1 eligible voters had cast their ballots, or 69 percent of the electorate. At 12.40am it was reported 2.94 million people voted, 71.2 percent of the electorate.

People concerned about vote rigging are standing by tonight

Now there are people waiting around polling stations to wait for the results. In general it seems areas that saw lots of violence like Sham Shui Po, Tai Koo Shing, Tsuen Wan, and Tai Po had a huge voter turnout. In Sha Tin City One, for example, over 80 percent of voters cast their ballots, which is unprecedented.

It will be interesting to see what the results are in these areas.

In the meantime, there are video clips online of voters being bribed. One showed pictures of people getting a large box, perhaps a pillow?, while another showed orange bags being distributed, but it was unclear what was in them. Another DAB candidate handed out his card, much like the elderly voter in front of me, and together with some shopping coupons from a supermarket chain.

Over 3,000 complaints about voting were filed today, from people's votes used by others posing as them, to bribery, to busing in people from across the border.

Counting begins... except I won't be staying up for that... stay tuned.

Bagging Another Tiger?

China has confirmed Meng Hongwei of Interpol is being investigated

Hot on the heels of actress Fan Bingbing's tax evasion ordeal, on Friday evening there was a curious piece of breaking news -- the Chinese head of Interpol had disappeared and his wife reported him missing to French police.

It has now transpired that Meng Hongwei, 64, was detained by Chinese authorities as soon as he landed in China on a flight from Lyon, France on September 29.

His wife Grace is worried for her and her children's safety

He has been detained for allegedly taking bribes and "gravely jeopardizing" the country's ruling Communist Party and police. On Sunday Interpol received his resignation letter and has been replaced by South Korean Kim Jong Yang.

Who knows how long Meng will be investigated for and then possibly put on trial.

What is ironic is that when he was appointed head of Interpol in 2016 there were fears he would abuse Interpol's powers to forcibly repatriate Chinese dissidents and fugitives.

But in 2017 he only issued one red notice -- which means a request to provisionally arrest a suspect pending extradition -- for Chinese fugitive tycoon Guo Wengui at Beijing's request.

In 2014 China issued notices for 100 Chinese fugitive officials living overseas.

Beijing's campaign of cracking down on corruption has not abated, and it is willing to sacrifice its reputation on the world stage to take down senior officials, as Meng was also vice-minister of public security in China.

Meng's last message to his wife was an emoji of a knife

His disappearance would have been kept quiet longer if it wasn't for his wife reporting him missing to the French police. It shows that no one -- not even the first Chinese national to head Interpol -- is safe from being investigated, and that domestic issues trump international ones.

Grace Meng, his wife, showed the authorities and the media her last communication with her husband. He told her to wait for his call and then posted an emoji of a knife, hinting danger.

Did he know what would happen if he went back to China? Or did he only find out the moment he landed?

There are too many questions, but one thing is for sure -- it doesn't matter how high up you are, if you have allegedly done something wrong, you will be taken down.

Jaw-Dropping Real Estate

A rendering of what Victoria Harbour (the development) will look like

The other day I met up with an acquaintance I haven't seen in a while. She told me she was working on a property development called Victoria Harbour. It's being developed by Sun Hung Kai in North Point and apparently has unobstructed views of the water, hence the name.

What's the price per square foot? A whopping HK$40,000 (US$5,113) per square foot.

My jaw fell to the floor when she told me.

There are studio flats all the way to five-bedroom ones. I can't even imagine how much those would cost.

Construction of the buildings is already underway

Back in November, Sun Hung Kai Properties only released 10 units for sale, and prospective buyers had to hand over a HK$7 million cheque just to be able to view the units. If they decided not to buy, then the money would be refunded.

Victor Lui Ting, deputy managing director at SHKP said at the time that demanding the money up front was an "appropriate practice", as flats at Victoria Harbour are considered rare products.

The fact that developers can legally do this is outrageous -- the price per square foot is already a deterrent for most buyers anyway!

Included in the development will be a hotel and shopping mall of course that will be anchored by the largest Yata department store in the city. The hotel will apparently be young and hip with an all-day dining restaurant and a bar. Wonder what rents will be like for retail spaces there.

And apparently the owners (the Kwok family, now run by Raymond Kwok Ping-luen as his brother Thomas is in jail for bribery) aren't in a hurry to sell because they'd like to have some of those flats for themselves.

My jaw is still on the floor from hearing the price her square foot...

Donald Tsang Found Guilty

Donald Tsang emerges from the courthouse with his family

Today Hong Kong has reached another new low -- its former chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen has been found guilty of misconduct in public office.

It was the charge of discussing Wave Media's broadcast license but failed to disclose it was a conflict of interest because he was also negotiating a Shenzhen penthouse with one of Wave Media's shareholders, Bill Wong Cho-bau.

Designer Barrie Ho was involved in renovating the flat

However, Tsang, 72, was not found guilty of public office in the charge in Tsang's failure to disclose his relationship with designer Barrie Ho Chow-lai when he nominated him for a civic award. Ho was involved in the HK$3.5 million renovation of the Shenzhen flat.

The defense had said it was not necessary for Tsang to declare the connection, because if he did, it would put pressure on others to approve Ho's nomination.

On the third charge of Tsang receiving free renovation work worth HK$3.5 million on the Shenzhen flat in exchange for approving Wave Media's application, jurors could not agree.

Some of them may have agreed with the defense that the state of the flat was uninhabitable so the renovations would have been done anyway, and in any event Tsang would only live there temporarily.

What about the HK$350K the Tsangs received from David Li?

It's surprising the jurors could not come to an agreement on the third charge listed here -- what about the HK$350,000 that was taken out of BEA chairman David Li Kwok-po and Wave Media shareholder's bank account and then half an hour later Tsang's wife Selina deposited the same amount into her bank account in the same financial institution?

In any event, Tsang will be sentenced on Monday, the maximum sentence could be seven years and a fine.

Finally some closure on this long drawn out trial, not the actual trial itself, but how long it took from him being charged to going to trial.

Prosecutors said he was a two-faced liar, who colluded with wealthy businessmen for personal gain, while the defense said Tsang would never want to sully his 45-year career in the civil service by accepting a bribe.

But it looks like on one count at least the jury believed the prosecution, and Tsang will have to pay for that.

Are there more corrupt government officials we need to know about? It just shows the government's checks and balances aren't enough to keep its officials on the straight and narrow, and that the media needs to do more to make them accountable.

Two Cities, Two Trials

Ho Chio-meng will be facing 1,970 charges against him next month

Former Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen will be facing three charges against him in a trial by jury that starts in January.

But that's nothing compared to Macau's former top prosecutor who will face almost 2,000 criminal charges when he appears in court next month.

Ho Chio-meng was prosecutor general, equivalent to Hong Kong's director of public prosecutions, from 1999 to 2014.

Former CE Donald Tsang will be going on trial in January

He was even tipped to become Macau's chief executive, but that possibility has been dashed, as Ho is accused of 1,970 charges, including initiating or founding a criminal syndicate, fraud, money laundering, unlawful economic advantage, abuse of power, and forging documents. He also faces a charge of "damaging goods under his domain".

An investigation into alleged corruption and kickbacks involving at least HK$44 million has led to the arrest of more than 70 suspects to date.

Ho and others will face trial on December 5.

Since his arrest in February when he tried to board a ferry to Hong Kong, Ho has been locked up in the same prison annexe as disgraced former public works secretary Ao Man-long, who is serving a 27-year term and is the highest ranking public official ever convicted of corruption in Macau. If convicted, Ho will be the second.

Rafael Hui is serving a 7 1/2 year sentence for taking bribes

There was a three-year investigation into Tsang's case, and he is the highest ranking government official in Hong Kong to face a corruption trial. His deputy Rafael Hui Si-yan was jailed for seven years in 2014 for taking bribes worth HK$34 million from Thomas Kwok Ping-kwong and Raymond Kwok Ping-luen. Thomas Kwok is serving a five-year sentence.

No doubt residents in both Hong Kong and Macau will be watching both trials closely...

Too Much Cash to Stash

Imagine hiding US$31 million worth of cash in your home... where to put it?

Here's some jaw-dropping news -- a corrupt Chinese official was handed a suspended death sentence earlier this week after he was convicted of taking bribes from more than 200 companies worth US$31 million worth of cash.

The money was found in a sparsely furnished apartment in Beijing owned by Wei Pengyuan, a former deputy director in the coal department of the National Development and Reform Commission, China's economic planning agency.

Wei Pengyuan received bribes while working at the NDRC

The 210 million yuan is the largest amount prosecutors have retrieved in cash from a corrupt official in a single operation since 1949, according to state media.

CCTV broadcast a news story showing how Wei was thought to be a modest official who cycled to work. But then it turned out he owned a black Audi (like every other Chinese official) and he would park it near the office and keep the folding bicycle in the trunk of the car.

The authorities raided his apartment, and only when they lifted the mattress of the bed did they find boxes and boxes, and suitcases full of 100 yuan notes bundled in bricks. There were also denominations in US dollars Hong Kong dollars, British pounds and Euros.

Apparently the cash had been sitting there for two years untouched after they were taken out of the bank.

He put the cash in suitcases, bags and boxes under his bed

The report added it took 14 hours for staff to count all the money, and four of the 16 counting machines broke down. News stories always like to add that these counting machines malfunctioned, or perhaps it was because they were made in China?

Wei managed to get all these bribes from conducting coal project reviews and bidding, and also helped others sell equipment illegally between 2000 and 2014, state media reported. He definitely didn't waste time trying to amass as much as he could.

Unfortunately the report doesn't say exactly how Wei was caught in the end, but for an NDRC official to cycle to work seems strange unless he really did live nearby.

If Wei's stash had all been in 100 yuan notes, it would have been over 2 million bills! That is so much cash taken out of circulation... wonder if the hoarding of so much cash by corrupt officials has contributed to China's economic slowdown...

Official Wackiness in Wukan

Wukan Communist Party secretary Lin Zhuluan who is now being detained

The story of bookseller Lam Wing-kee and the ongoing allegations against him and his own rebuttals continue, while Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has been caught completely flat-footed on dealing with this issue, that only demonstrates where his loyalties lie.

But there's another incident brewing in the fishing village of Wukan in Guangdong province, where local residents were protesting land seizures. The authorities tried to shut them up by kidnapping Lin Zuluan, the local Communist Party secretary.

Thousands called for Lin's release on Sunday

They took him from his home in the middle of the night on Saturday and has detained him since. Since then state media have had a field day, with Lufeng prosecutors claiming Lin had allegedly pocketed a lot of bribes through contracting out infrastructure projects.

But villagers didn't believe a word of these allegations and thousands of them continued to protest on Sunday and called for Lin's release.

Then an official claiming to be from the Shanwei prosecutors' office called Lin's wife, Yang Zhen, and put Lin on the phone.

They had hoped he would dissuade her from leading villagers in their protest, but the plan backfired.

Lin's supposed confession of taking bribes

"Do what you think is right as long as it's legal," he said over the phone in the conversation she recorded. "If someone is trying to arrest you, do not go easy on them."

However he also added a warning: "Do not go to a protest just because others told you so."

But since then, Lin has apparently confessed to taking bribes and deputy village party secretary Zhang Shuijin has replaced him, and told villagers not to participate in protest marches.

Yesterday there was a video clip circulating on social media of Qian Hanpei, deputy chief of Donghai town harassing the media with an umbrella when reporters tried to interview him.

Qian Hanpei (white shirt) trying to assault reporters

"You reporters are just like dogs," Qian said when asked of Lin's condition. He was recorded threatening to strike cameramen and reporters with the butt end of his umbrella.

And now Hong Kong media have been accused of "inciting, planning and directing" the Wukan land protests.

Apple Daily and newcomer Initium Media were named by and official in Shanwei in Guangdong province for the turmoil and added measures would be taken according to the law.

This is probably the first time Hong Kong media have been directly blamed for planning and directing mass protests. But Apple Daily's chief editor Chan Pui-man denied the paper was involved in any way other than covering the incident.

How this whole event has played out so far -- and even dragging the media into it is pretty crazy. If anything, Chinese officials haven't thought the plot line carefully and the end result.

Trying to assault reporters does not win brownie points.

Reported Graft Cases in HK up 18%

ICAC's committee chairmen, Chow Chung-kong and Maria Tam Wai-chu

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) reports a surge in corruption complaints last year, 18 percent more at 2,798.

Among the complaints (all of which were not election-related), 1,831 were against the private sector, a 22 percent jump, from 2014; those against the public sector increased 15 percent to 200, and those against government departments was up 11 percent to 767 cases at 221.

The watchdog's advisory committee on corruption claimed the surge was due to the increased trust in the ICAC and more public service announcements on urging residents to report graft.

Former ICAC head Timothy Tong's investigation is ongoing

"I don't think we need to go into too much interpretation because of the past few years, corruption-related complaints ranged from 2,100 to 4,000," said committee chairman Chow Chung-kong.

"When we judge the situation of corruption in Hong Kong, we should look at the comprehensive set of factors, such as the nature of the complaints and the success rate in prosecutions."

Chow stressed that corruption had not worsened, and was under control.

He instead hit out at politicians for publicizing cases they reported to the ICAC, which may have given the public the impression that the watchdog had become a political tool.

However, last year, 213 people were convicted for corruption, a 24 percent increase.

How can Chow say that corruption has not gotten more severe compared to last year?

In addition, there is still the case of the ICAC's own former head, Timothy Tong Hin-ming, who has been alleged to have spent public money excessively. The investigation has been going on for three years without any sign of an end in sight.

"With regard to the time required for the investigation, it depends on many factors," Chow said.

What kind of vague statement is this?

If anything the ICAC should be the most critical of all public institutions, not be afraid to be blunt, especially when it comes to people or organizations that break the law. To say that Tong's case is still ongoing shows how things are moving so slowly and no one wants to take responsibility for it.

How can people have faith in the ICAC when it seems to be sidestepping its core values?

China: World's Highest Risk for Fraud

It's not easy doing business in China -- just ask local executives in the Middle Kingdom.

Commercial investigative firm Kroll has found some interesting numbers.

73 percent of China-based executives are affected by fraud, up 6 percent from last year. China is the most vulnerable in nine out of 11 types of fraud types, making these executives the most afraid of risks of fraud than anywhere else in the world. The annual survey interviewed 768 senior executives worldwide.

Other numbers:

87 percent of Chinese executives say they are vulnerable to theft of physical assets or shares, much higher than the global average of 62 percent.

81 percent of Chinese executives worry about theft of their corporate information, compared to the global average of 51 percent.

81 percent of Chinese executives worry their companies will face the risk of corruption and bribery, compared to the global average of 40 percent.

Other risks:

74 percent worry about cheating by suppliers;

71 percent about having intellectual property stolen;

69 percent about internal fraud;

69 percent misappropriation of company funds;

65 percent conflict of interest;

65 percent regulatory compliance;

64 percent market collusion;

63 percent money laundering.

The global average for the above numbers is between 26-49 percent.

It is also interesting to add that Kroll found 35 percent of Chinese executives surveyed had invested in staff due diligence, considering 72 percent of fraud causes are because of insiders.

And only 53 percent of Chinese executives hired companies to do due diligence on their partners or vendors even though 74 percent of them felt vulnerable to fraud by vendors and suppliers.

What does this say about China?

There isn't much of a culture of corporate governance, and how it is important to have internal controls.

Wonder how Chinese executives manage to sleep, if at all...

Joseph Lau's Bling Bling Spree

Joseph Lau paid over $48 million for this gorgeous blue diamond at auction

Billionaire Joseph Lau Luen-hung was not shy about revealing he was the mystery buyer who snapped up a 12.03-carat blue diamond at auction in Geneva for a record-breaking $48.4 million -- for his seven-year-old daughter Josephine.

After he secured the winning bid, Lau promptly renamed the rare stone "Blue Moon of Josephine".

A few days earlier he bought another rock for his little girl, this time a 16.08-carat pink diamond for $28.5 million and named it "Sweet Josephine".

Lau was convicted in a bribes-for-land racket in Macau

Back in 2009 he showered the then one-year-old with another blue diamond, paying the then record price of $9.5 million for 7.03 carats.

The man has good taste in diamonds. But for a seven-year-old?

Another major fact to consider is that while he is listed by Forbes to be the sixth-richest man in Hong Kong with $9.8 billion in assets, Lau is also a fugitive, after being jailed in absentia in Macau in March last year for his part in a bribes-for-land racket involving Ao Man-long the most corrupt public official ever convicted in the city's history.

Lau received a five-year jail term, but has not served one day because the former Portuguese colony does not have an extradition treaty with Hong Kong. As long has he doesn't step foot in Macau, he's safe for now.

So why is the billionaire showering this one daughter with over $86 million in diamonds when he has four other children?

On Tuesday Lau also bought this diamond for his Josephine

He has a son and a daughter with Bo Wing-kam, another daughter and son with Yvonne Lui, and then Josephine's mother is girlfriend Chan Hoi-wan, who also bore him a son in 2012.

One can imagine Josephine can't go around anywhere now without an entourage of bodyguards as she plays with her new sparkling baubles...

Watch Out for Mooncake Bribes

Name officials you think are spending too much money on mooncakes

With Mid-Autumn Festival on September 27, mainland Chinese officials are warning that the giving of gifts, particularly mooncakes, could be a hotbed for corruption.

Xinhua reported Song Dajun, deputy chief of the Party work style supervision office under the Chinese Communist Party Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), said: "The root is still there even though the tree has fallen".

Interesting metaphor considering the anti-corruption drive is still ongoing, so how can the tree have fallen already?

He called on supervisory bodies to be extra vigilant ahead of and during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays a few days after, as this period could be "used as a cover for subtle bribery".

Mooncakes are dense pastries usually filled with lotus seed paste and duck egg yolks, though these days there are numerous variations, like milk custard, red bean with mandarin peel, even durian and chocolate. Some are presented in elaborate packaging that may give the appearance of an expensive gift.

So beware! If you see Chinese officials spending excessive amounts of money during the upcoming festivities, report them to the CCDI! Violators will be named and shamed in a weekly report on the CCDI website from September 16.

Three More Months

An announcement will be made in less than three months about Donald Tsang

Back in March we were told the investigation into former chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen "has entered its final stage", and now the latest update is that we should know in less than three months if he will be prosecuted for graft or not.

Director of Public Prosecutions Keith Yeung Kar-hung dismissed concerns Tsang would flee Hong Kong to escape legal liabilities, a scenario he said was "quite unlikely".

Should we be so sure?

In any event, Tsang is accused of accepting favours from tycoons while in office from 2005 to 2012.

Three months earlier Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung said the investigation was wrapping up and that technical issues about laws were being sorted out.

If Tsang is convicted, he will be the highest-ranking former official ever to be involved in a bribery trial.

His chief secretary Rafael Hui Si-yan, was jailed for 7.5 years in December, after a jury convicted him of taking almost HK$20 million in bribes from associates related to Sun Hung Kai Properties. He is appealing.

In addressing criticism that the investigation has taken over three years, Yeung said: "The public is legitimately concerned about this case -- this is obviously an important case. But there is more than one facet... to the case. Compilation of certain evidence... involves investigations outside Hong Kong," he said.

"The views of outside independent counsel have been sought, and the prosecutions division has been in contact with the Independent Commission Against Corruption."

We will try to wait patiently another three months to find out Tsang's fate...

An App to Crackdown on Corruption

The public can now use a new app to crack down on corrupt officials in China

It's getting harder for Chinese officials to get away with robbing from taxpayer coffers and spending it on themselves.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) has just launched a smartphone app that allows the public to anonymously upload pictures and videos they take of officials who may be misusing public funds or government vehicles, or breaking Communist Party rules on lavish entertainment.

Not only is it a way for the public to help the CCDI root out bad elements from the Party, but also perhaps instill some confidence in the people that the government is trying to tackle the problem.

CCDI says the public can anonymously upload text (432 characters), pictures and videos (up to 5MB) that denounce what the Communist Party says are "the four decadent tendencies" that include "hedonism and extravagance".

Wang Qishan (centre) heads the CCDI to root out corruption

Violations that could possibly be lavish spending on entertainment, expensive holidays in China or abroad, handing out funds or gifts that violate Party rules, extravagant wedding banquets, parties or funerals.

According to the Communist Party, some 100,000 people have been punished for disciplinary violations in the past two years, though many received minor disciplinary punishments to avoid going to court.

While some members of the public thing the app is a fantastic idea, even praising anti-corruption czar Wang Qishan as a "great man", others are cynical and wonder if the CCDI has enough manpower to catch all the corrupt officials on the app. Others pondered online if these officials would really be brought to justice, or that others may take revenge through the app...

Nevertheless, it will be much harder for officials to think themselves different from the rest of the people.

In China these days, appearances really are everything.

Bagging the Big Tiger

Zhou Yongkang in court saying he will not appeal the verdict

Former security chief Zhou Yongkang's trial apparently came and went because a few hours ago it was announced he was handed a suspended life sentence -- ie life in prison.

The closed-door trial apparently began on May 22 at Tianjin No. 1 Intermediate People's Court, and only now was it explained that the trial was not open to the public because "some evidence of his crimes involved state secrets".

It wasn't really surprising Zhou would be jailed for life, but seeing him with completely white hair was a shock. Depriving him and other arrested leaders of black hair dye really transforms them into remorseful looking creatures, unlike their power-trip days.

Zhou is the highest official to be arrested, put on trial and now in prison, and was convicted on many charges, including graft abuse of power, and intentionally leaking state secrets.

For abuse of power, he was given a seven-year sentence, and four for leaking state secrets.

When it came to taking bribes, the court revealed he and his family had taken 129.7 million yuan worth of bribes from Zhou's close allies.

There was the 731,100 yuan from Jiang Jiemin, former head of the state owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, and former chairman of the state-run China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), where Zhou was the top official for a decade.

Then his son Zhou Bin and wife Jia Xiaoye also benefited handsomely, receiving 129 million yuan from other people, including a Sichuan businessman, a former mayor, and former party chief of a subsidiary of CNPC.

The court said Zhou had abused his power by asking Jiang and former Sichuan deputy party chief Li Chuncheng to funnel more than 2.13 billion yuan to his son and other businessmen. This was somehow calculated as a loss of 1.48 billion yuan to the Chinese economy.

Zhou also apparently had six classified documents, and gave five of them to a "qigong master", according to mainland media. Sounds like there will be more about this supposed master by the name of Cao Yongzheng.

The court spared Zhou the death penalty because it said he confessed to his crimes, pleaded guilty and apparently all the money taken has been accounted for and confiscated.

Really? Every single mao and fen were accounted for? Everyone must have squirreled it away and not spent it on anything, or perhaps they made so much money from that capital that it was easy to return the original amount...

Nevertheless, it's interesting how long Zhou has been in detention (since two years ago) and last July there was a formal announcement of an investigation into alleged abuse of power and corruption.

Now that the big tiger has been bagged, his associates are next. The chances of them being let go are very slim mainly because of their links with Zhou...

Corrupt Officials Capitalize on Bureaucratic Loopholes

China's bureaucracy makes it easy for corrupt officials, difficult for citizens

Late last month Chinese Premier Li Keqiang blasted officials for the hoops ordinary citizens have to go through to get things done, such as having to prove one's mother really was his mother in order to get an overseas travel permit, or being recommended for a model worker award, but then needing to submit a form with stamps from eight different government agencies.

He might also be fuming when it was discovered a fugitive official wanted on corruption charges was able to flee China to New Zealand even though his passport was confiscated.

The fugitive, only identified as "Ge", fled the mainland in January 2008 after graft busters disciplined an official he apparently bribed.

"I was bewildered. We had seized his passport so how could he leave the country?" Gao Guangshan, from the Huainan procuratorate said. "It was only after I checked with the Qingdao public security [bureau] that I found out that he had written [to the bureau] claiming that his passport had been lost and was issued a new one."

Ge's passport had been seized in Huainan in Anhui province, but then he was able to receive a new one in Qingdao. From there he went to Shanghai wit his wife to leave the country.

The investigation into Ge was stopped in 2010, but was reopened last year when Beijing launched its Fox Hunt operation to track down fugitive officials.

When Ge's wife returned in China for a visit, investigators advised her to persuade Ge to turn himself in, which he did in February.

Now there's an effort to close up this loophole by authorities by cracking down on officials who travel on private passports.

Note to corrupt officials abroad -- Once you flee China, don't even think of ever going back. If Ge's wife hadn't returned, Ge would probably still be living it up in New Zealand...

Still Waiting for an Outcome

ICAC chief Simon Peh defended how the agency takes time investigating

The head of the Independent Commission Against Corruption hit back at Hong Kong's recent decline in an international corruption perception ranking, saying it had nothing to do with how long it takes the agency to investigate high-profile cases.

Commissioner Simon Peh Yun-lu said this at the ICAC's sixth international symposium, where more than 500 guests from 60 countries or jurisdictions attended to exchange views on the latest graft-busting strategies and tactics.

Last year Berlin-based Transparency International placed Hong Kong 17th from 15th, scoring 74 out of 100, down one point from 2013. ICAC has received a lot of heat for taking two years or more to investigate such cases as Secretary for Development Paul Chan Mo-po, former chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen and former ICAC commissioner Timothy Tong Hin-ming.

Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying also spoke at the symposium, stressing that Hong Kong remained "one of the cleanest cities in the world".

While Peh would not comment on individual cases, he would only say graft investigations now require collaboration with overseas law enforcement agencies, and as a result took longer to complete.

The investigation into Donald Tsang is still ongoing...

Back in mid-March, Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung announced Tsang's fate would be known soon, as the investigation had entered its "final phase", adding the investigation was "not as simple as one perhaps reads from newspapers".

It's now mid-May. What is Yuen's definition of soon?

What we know so far is that when Tsang was chief executive from 2005 to 2012, he allegedly agreed to a low-rent deal for a luxury Shenzhen flat with a businessman who owns a Hong Kong radio station. Tsang also allegedly accepted complimentary or cheap rides in private yachts or jets for travel to Macau and elsewhere.

Either the ICAC is slow in putting two and two together, or they have dug up even more dirt on the former chief executive which would be interesting.

At any rate, we want to know what Tsang's fate is -- we are taxpayers who deserve the truth.

So how can Peh blame us for thinking the longer we wait, the more we wonder what is going on behind the scenes?

More Official Drama

Rafael Hui has gone to prison for seven years for bribery

Ah the mighty have fallen and continue to fall.

Today former Hong Kong chief secretary Rafael Hui Si-yan was jailed for seven and a half years and pay back HK$11.182 million (the amount of bribes he was guilty of taking), while former co-chairman of SHKP Thomas Kwok Ping-kwong was sentenced to five years and a HK$500,000 fine for corruption and bribery.

These sentences seem awfully light for shaking the public's faith in the Hong Kong government, along with a HK$500,000 fine? That's chump change for Kwok. Was that the maximum sentence Justice Andrew Macrae could give both convicted defendants?

Interesting that Hui even asked his former boss ex-chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen to write a referral letter pleading for Hui to get a lighter sentence considering all the good things he'd done for the city.

Hu Jintao's right-hand man, Ling Jihua now being probed

Surely everything Hui did as a civil servant prior to working for the Kwok brothers was completely wiped out by this scandal?

In any event, attention has now turned across the border with the announcement by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection that Hu Jintao's former aide Ling Jihua will be investigated for "suspected serious disciplinary violations", which usually refers to corruption.

He will be the next tiger Chinese President Xi Jinping bags, after Zhou Yongkang and Xu Caihou, former vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission.

Ling was on his way climbing up the ladder of power when his son screwed it up for him on the night of March 19, 2012.

Ling Gu was in a fatal car accident when his Ferrari crashed into a wall on Beijing's North Fourth Ring Road before crushing a barrier on the other side of the road. Ling Gu was not fully dressed, nor were his two female companions, a lurid detail that has stuck with this story.

The wreckage of Ling Gu's Ferrari after a horrific crash

Ling requested the investigation into the accident not be handled by local police, but by the Central Guard Bureau, which oversees security of top leaders. This was his way of attempting to cover up the situation.

Pictures of the accident were put online by witnesses, but were soon deleted.

Then Ling got then chairman of state-run China National Petroleum Corporation Jiang Jiemin to pay tens of millions of yuan in compensation to the two women's families to keep quiet.

But the two large money transfers resulted in an investigation into the company as well as the link to Ling.

He was supposed to have been fast-tracked to become a member of the Politburo, but instead was transferred to a horizontal position as minister of the United Work Front, a mostly symbolic job.

However his time in purgatory was not enough -- even his open letters publicly praising Xi last week did not redeem him from being investigated.

Now it will be interesting to see what other things they uncover about Ling, particularly how his son was able to afford a Ferrari and maybe what did happen that night two years ago.

There are reports that Ling was a workaholic, but perhaps that was just a ruse to keep others from noticing what he managed to siphon off financially along the way.

How much did Hu know? And will he be a tiger Xi wants on his mantlepiece as well?

The drama unfolding here in real time is much more fascinating than anything TVB can cook up...

Hui's Fall from Grace

Rafael Hui was found guilty of bribery thanks to his materialistic longings

It seems former chief secretary Rafael Hui Si-yan was addicted to the high life and thought of himself as a discerning consumer even though his salary wasn't enough to pay for his lavish tastes.

The 131-day trial of Hui, and Sun Hung Kai Properties co-chairmen and brothers Thomas Kwok Ping-kwong and Raymond Kwok Ping-luen is over, with Hui and Thomas Kwok found guilty of bribery.

Somehow Raymond Kwok was acquitted on all four charges against him and walked free.

It basically boils down to Hui acquiring hyper materialistic tastes and not being able to live on a budget, and supposedly succumbed to bribes from the Kwok brothers to maintain his lavish lifestyle.

Thomas Kwok was also convicted of bribery

In court it was revealed Hui liked to spend money traveling to Europe and Japan to attend exclusive operatic performances, once dropping HK$150,000 to stay in London's Dorchester Hotel.

He also spent HK$2 million at one music store for several years, and had no qualms going on a HK$200,000 shopping spree in one store on CDs and vinyl records. At that time his annual income was HK$4.6 million.

But after then chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen was re-elected in 2007, Hui became a non-official executive council member and his salary dropped to HK$105,000 a month. However he continued to withdraw HK$1 million a month using overdraft facilities, and on his credit card bills he would only pay the minimum amount.

"Basically I did not have any savings. I spent almost everything I had," Hui said on the first day of his testimony.

Is that supposed to be considered a badge of honour? For a financial secretary to not pay off his credit card bills every month is shocking not to mention spending way beyond his means.

The writing was on the wall for Hui when the ICAC charged him with bribery and misconduct in office in July 2012; then creditors came calling, including Hang Seng Bank, Standard Chartered, and even Honour Finance, a subsidiary of SHKP.

As a result, Hui declared bankruptcy in November last year, not being able to repay Bank of East Asia. There were media reports he racked up debts of up to almost HK$75 million.

Not only was he a carefree spender, but also apparently a philanderer, cheating on his wife of more than 40 years.

"In 2008, I gave some money to a female friend in Shanghai," he confessed in court. "I do not recall the exact amount -- but I think at least HK$7 million or HK$8 million... some of which for purchasing properties, some for investments."

If this isn't a massive fall from grace, I don't know what is.

It will be interesting to see what sentence the judge metes out for Hui, as he will hardly be able to pay off his debts. What punishment would be suitable for someone like this?

While this trial is over, all eyes are now on Tsang, who has been very low key in the last few years. After he was caught on a yacht hanging out with tycoons, the former chief executive may be the next one in the dock.

How many other senior civil servants took advantage of their positions too? If the Hong Kong government wants to regain any kind of credibility, especially post-Occupy, surely it needs to clean up house too...

Bagging Another Tiger

Mountains of cash, gems, jade and antiques were found in Xu Caihou's home

Can you imagine what a tonne of cash looks like?

Xu Caihou, a former vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, was expelled from the Communist Party in late June and his case was handed over to military prosecutors.

And now it has been reported he took tons of bribes in exchange for promotions, so much so there was more than a tonne of cash and precious jade in his basement.

The cash wasn't just yuan, but also US dollars and euros, and there were also lots of precious gems and hundreds of kilograms of expensive jade, as well as rare antiques.

"Case handlers had no option but to call more than 10 military trucks before all the confiscated property piled up like mountains from this former Central Military Commission vice-chairman's house could be taken away," said the report from Phoenix Weekly, a magazine run by Phoenix Television.

The article reported Xu was forced to "bow his head and admit defeat" when confronted with the list of items.

We have to wonder how Xu's stash stacks up compared to Wei Pengyuan, former deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission's coal department who had 200 million yuan in cash in his flat.

Both are from very powerful departments in government.

While the amount of cash may be pretty close, it seems like Xu wins hands down for the value of his ill-gotten gains for sure including the gems and jade...

It really makes you wonder -- how may more tigers need to be caught?