HONG KONG
A former top official in Hong Kong’s Department of Aviation faces up to seven years in jail after a court found he had failed to declare a conflict of interest in a property deal with a businesswoman who was also his lover.
The court accepted that Wilson Fung Wing-yip (pictured) and Cheyenne Chan Ung-iok were in love at the time and cleared them of accepting and offering an advantage, respectively.
However, Mr Fung’s failure to declare a conflict of interest was deemed to be misconduct in public office.
The scandal emerged in 2016 when Mr Fung’s wife, also a top PS employee, was accused of gaining an unfair advantage when swapping flats with Ms Chan’s company.
The court heard Mr Fung, a former Deputy Secretary in charge of aviation, accepted a HK$510,000 (A$96,500) deposit from Ms Chan in 2004, but did not declare it to the Government while handling applications from Ms Chan’s companies, Helicopters Hong Kong, HK Express and Heli Express.
Mr Fung was described as a competent PS employee by District Judge Douglas Yau Tak-hong, who also said Mr Fung pocketed the deposit out of greed, while initially lying that he did not know Ms Chan’s background.
The judge said Mr Fung’s failure to declare an interest stemmed from his worries that his extramarital affair would come to light.
Mr Fung believed his private life was of no concern to the public unless it brought the Government into disrepute.
Hong Kong, 17 August 2019
