SHKP's Walter Kwok 'suspected Rafael Hui was Cheung Kong spy'
Thomas Kwok Ping-kwong, co-chairman of Sun Hung Kai Properties, told the High Court on Tuesday that his brother Walter Kwok Ping-sheung suspected that Rafael Hui Si-yan was a spy for competitor Cheung Kong Holdings when Hui was being considered for employment in their property firm in 2002, am730 reported.
Testifying at the corruption trial where he and Hui are defendants, Thomas Kwok said he did not believe his brother's suspicion, adding that Walter Kwok was paranoid.
Hui, who worked as a consultant for Sun Hung Kai for two years before he was appointed chief secretary in 2005, is facing eight charges related to bribery and misconduct in public office.
Walter Kwok was opposed to hiring Hui as a consultant because he suspected Hui would try to sell company secrets to Cheung Kong, the flagship company of tycoon Li Ka-shing. But Sun Hung Kai eventually hired Hui, he said.
Hui was paid HK$15 million (US$1.93 million) a year as consultant fee, Thomas Kwok said, addding that of the amount, HK$10.5 million came from his own pocket.
Thomas Kwok also revealed that his brother Walter attended a meeting at the central government's liaison office in Hong Kong before Tung Chee-hwa resigned as chief executive in 2005.
At the meeting, Walter Kwok was asked about his views on Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, who eventually succeeded Tung, the report quoted Thomas Kwok as saying.
-- Contact us at [email protected]
TL/AC/CG
-
Epidemic and 40-year-high inflation stalk HK migrants in UK Mark O'Neill
The website of the Trinity Church in Sutton, southwest London, is written in English and traditional Chinese – 歡迎香港人, Welcome Hong Kong people. “The middle of a pandemic is not an easy time to arrive
-
The privilege of shorter quarantine Ben Kwok
The nightmare of staying in a hotel for three full weeks might hopefully be over. Yesterday the National Health Commission announced to shorten the hotel quarantine period for people arriving in the
-
3D maps enhance disaster prevention and rescue Dr. Winnie Tang
Abnormal and even extreme weather has become more frequent. The Observatory forecasts that tropical cyclone incidence and total rainfall this year will be "normal to high". To be well-prepared, the
-
Ignoble ease Neville Sarony
There is no shortage of commentators, both lawyers and lay people, who feel entitled to criticize Hong Kong’s legal community for what these observers assert is a failure to stand up for the liberal
-
An imminent private housing supply chasm and its solutions Ryan Ip Man-ki, Jason Leung Yeuk Ho
As the 5th wave of Covid-19 gradually subsides, waves of new private housing projects are now under the spotlight. Intensifying competition among developers became the talk of the town after a
