Hong Kong property tycoon Thomas Kwok (郭炳江) and the government’s former deputy leader Rafael Hui (許仕仁) saw their appeal bids against graft convictions rejected yesterday as they faced serving out their jail time.
The pair were found guilty of corruption in 2014 after a blockbuster trial over a cash for favors scandal.
Thomas Chan (陳鉅源) and Francis Kwan (關雄生), sentenced to five and six years respectively for acting as intermediaries for the payments, also saw their appeals fail.
“The appeals against conviction of Rafael Hui, Thomas Kwok, Thomas Chan and Francis Kwan are dismissed,” a written judgment to the court of appeal on Monday said.
A frail-looking Hui and grey-haired Kwok were grim-faced during the hearing, which lasted less than one minute.
The seven-month trial centered around a total of HK$34 million (US$4.37 million) in handouts, which the prosecution said were made to Hui by Kwok and his billionaire brother Raymond, to be their “eyes and ears” in government.
Hui was jailed for seven-and-a-half years in December 2014, while 64-year-old Kwok — who was joint chairman of Hong Kong’s biggest property company, Sun Hung Kai — was sentenced to five years.
Thomas Kwok’s son Adam said the rejection of the appeal was “disappointing,” adding he hoped the case would be brought to the Court of Final Appeal.
“I personally believe in my heart... that my father is innocent and that this is an unjust case,” he said outside the court.
During the appeal case, lawyer Edwin Choy challenged the legitimacy of an interview between the city’s graftbusters and Hui three years before he was arrested.
Choy argued that Hui had not been put under caution by investigators before giving statements that could later become formal evidence.
Clare Montgomery, representing Kwok, said the court failed to identify any specific advantage that Kwok had received after paying Hui.
Monday’s full judgement rejected those arguments.
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