New doubts were raised yesterday about the integrity of Leung Chun-ying's cabinet members as a minister was accused of abusing a civil service housing allowance by 'cross-leasing' properties with a colleague in the 1980s.
Development minister Mak Chai-kwong admitted he had leased a flat he had bought to another civil servant for 27 months between 1986 and 1988 while claiming a government allowance for renting a flat from the same colleague in the same estate.
But Mak, responding on Metro Radio to an Apple Daily report, insisted he did not breach any rules.
'Investment in private property should not be considered as affecting an officer's credibility if it was done legally and in accordance with the regulations,' Mak said, adding that what he did was common practice at the time.
It has not been suggested that Mak swapped ownership of the flat with his colleague or had ever owned the flat he lived in, which would have breached the rules.
The revelation was a potential new embarrassment for the new chief executive after he and several of his ministers and advisers apologised in recent days over illegal structures at their homes.
Mak faced calls from lawmakers across the political spectrum to reveal full details of the case, while some pan-democratic legislators criticised him for abusing a grey area of the rules.