SHKP matriarch 'feared influence of mistress on her son Walter Kwok'
Thomas Kwok tells his graft trial agreement was set out on role of his brother Walter's 'girlfriend'
The matriarch behind the Sun Hung Kai Properties empire expressed fears about an "aggressive" mistress manipulating her eldest son some time after he was left traumatised by a kidnap ordeal, the High Court heard from her second son yesterday.
In their mother's eyes, then SHKP chairman Walter Kwok Ping-sheung appeared to be under the woman's influence, Thomas Kwok Ping-kwong, SKHP co-chairman, who is on trial for bribery, told the court.
The concerns prompted the family to set out a written agreement on the role of the woman, known only in court as Ida Tong.
All this happened after Walter Kwok was released after being held captive for a week by armed gangster "Big Spender" Cheung Tsz-keung in 1997. The court - which has previously heard that Kwok was left traumatised and paranoid by the kidnapping - was not told when the concerns and the agreement came about.
The trial is examining whether HK$34 million worth of cash and inducements Thomas Kwok and younger brother Raymond Kwok Ping-luen gave former chief secretary Rafael Hui Si-yan were bribes or consultancy fees hidden from Walter Kwok. He is not a party in the case.
Under questioning from his counsel Clare Montgomery QC, Thomas Kwok recalled a dinner involving all three sons and their mother, Kwok Kwong Siu-hing.