Macau graft trial sees downfall of Joseph Lau and Steven Lo
Joseph Lau and Steven Lo's involvement in the luxury La Scala project turned out to be their undoing, and the development has hit a brick wall
A luxury residential project in Macau has turned out to be the undoing of Hong Kong tycoon Joseph Lau Luen-hung and businessman Steven Lo Kit-sing, culminating in jail terms of five years and three months for corruption and money laundering.
The La Scala development was forced to cease construction and apartment sales in summer 2012 - long before the pair's conviction yesterday - and the sale of the site was voided.
La Scala, located next to the Macau airport, was a project of Hong Kong-listed property developer Chinese Estates, where Lau was chairman.
The turn of events came weeks after Lau and Lo, chairman of entertainment company BMA Investment, were mentioned in April that year at the corruption trial of Macau's former public works minister Ao Man-long. Ao was accused of having received a HK$20 million bribe in the sale of five plots of land covering 78,000 square metres for La Scala.
After Ao lost his appeal in the top court the following month and was jailed for 29 years, Chinese Estates stopped work at the site and halted flat sales. Macau chief executive Dr Fernando Chui Sai-on later invalidated the land transfer contracts.
The 18-month trial saw Lau sack his lawyer, Leong Weng-pun, towards the end and hire another counsel, David Azevedo Gomes. He changed his mind two weeks later, hiring lawyer Luis Mesquita de Melo.