CY lied about his home, says former backer
CPPCC member says he is speaking out because chief executive failed to honour commitments
A former supporter of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has accused him of "lying" about his handling of the illegal structures at his Peak home, citing executive councillor Barry Cheung Chun-yuen as his source.
Cheung yesterday denied the accusation.
Lew Mon-hung, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, also said Leung broke his promise to appoint him as an executive councillor and nominate him as the sole candidate to a top post of a national advisory body.
Lew backed Leung in last year's chief executive race even when he appeared to have little hope of winning.
In an interview in yesterday's weekly, Lew said former Leung campaign office chairman Cheung had told him the chief executive had "made up the story" about calling in three professionals to determine that his house on Peel Rise at The Peak had no illegal structures.
The Chief Executive's Office said yesterday that Leung had "explained the illegal structure row many times before and has nothing to add".
No stranger to controversy, Lew admitted to Now TV yesterday that an investigation by the city's graft fighter into listed energy company Pearl Oriental Oil, of which he is the deputy chairman and executive director, was one of the reasons that triggered his outburst against Leung.
A source familiar with the situation said Lew had been arrested for corruption, without giving further details. The Independent Commission Against Corruption refused to comment.
Lew said he decided to go public because "something" has "damaged my dignity, tarnished my reputation and suppressed me politically and financially".
When asked to provide evidence to back up his claim yesterday, Lew said "everything I have said is grounded in facts and I can face polygraph questioning".
Cheung rejected Lew's claim, saying Leung's refusal to name a surveyor - one of the three professionals Leung said had helped check his Peak home - was because he had died. Leung had already named the other two professionals.
Lawyer Steven Shum released a statement last November to support Leung's claim that he hired professionals to check the house.
Lew told Now TV he had decided to speak out because of Leung's disappointing policy address and because of the ICAC probe. He said Leung had not answered his letter about the probe.
"I was his biggest supporter during the election race. But I'm nothing to him now," Lew said. "I will roar in defiance if he requites my kindness with enmity."
