Macau's highest court sentenced a former minister to 27 years in jail yesterday for taking tens of millions of dollars in kickbacks, in the gambling enclave's largest corruption case.
Ao Man-long (
"The court ruled according to the law -- I think it was very just," Chief Executive Edmund Ho (
Ao was the highest level official ever sentenced for graft and his trial came as the former Portuguese territory tries to shrug off a reputation for organized crime and reinvent itself as holiday destination in the image of Las Vegas.
In recent years, Macau -- the only place in China where casino gambling is legal -- has drawn several high profile Las Vegas operators who have invested billions of dollars in building upscale casino resorts to attract China's newly rich. Ao was accused of handing some of those construction contracts to firms in return for kickbacks.
He stood as the three-judge panel delivered its verdict at the territory's highest court, before being escorted out of the packed courtroom by two security guards.
Judges accused Ao of "greed" and "shocking" behavior that had smeared the reputation of Macau and its government.
Ao's lawyer, Nuno Simoes, said the severity of the sentence meant they were entitled to an appeal.
Under Macanese law, Ao could have received a 30-year sentence.
He was tried in the territory's highest court, the Court of Final Appeal, because of his seniority. It was not clear which court would be allowed to hear any appeal in the case.
Ao, who was arrested in December 2006, denied any wrongdoing throughout the monthlong trial.
In a four-month investigation, anti-graft officials said they discovered assets worth about 800 million patacas (US$99.5 million), more than 57 times what Ao and his family could have earned over a seven-year period.
During sentencing the judges said assets worth 250 million patacas would be confiscated, as well as properties Ao bought in London, Macau and Hong Kong.
Investigators would also seek cooperation from the Virgin Islands where Ao set up companies with the intent to launder his ill-gotten gains, they said.
Some of Ao's family, including his father and wife, and four business associates also face a range of money-laundering charges linked to Ao's case, but in a separate trial.
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
CROSS-STRAIT: The MAC said it barred the Chinese officials from attending an event, because they failed to provide guarantees that Taiwan would be treated with respect The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday night defended its decision to bar Chinese officials and tourism representatives from attending a tourism event in Taipei next month, citing the unsafe conditions for Taiwanese in China. The Taipei International Summer Travel Expo, organized by the Taiwan Tourism Exchange Association, is to run from July 18 to 21. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) on Friday said that representatives from China’s travel industry were excluded from the expo. The Democratic Progressive Party government is obstructing cross-strait tourism exchange in a vain attempt to ignore the mainstream support for peaceful development
ELITE UNIT: President William Lai yesterday praised the National Police Agency’s Special Operations Group after watching it go through assault training and hostage rescue drills The US Navy regularly conducts global war games to develop deterrence strategies against a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, aimed at making the nation “a very difficult target to take,” US Acting Chief of Naval Operations James Kilby said on Wednesday. Testifying before the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, Kilby said the navy has studied the issue extensively, including routine simulations at the Naval War College. The navy is focused on five key areas: long-range strike capabilities; countering China’s command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting; terminal ship defense; contested logistics; and nontraditional maritime denial tactics, Kilby
RSS