New | Australian reporter warned by CY Leung’s office not to publish ‘totally wrong’ story

In a letter dated October 7, Leung’s lawyer John Dalzell asked John Garnaut and Fairfax Media group counsel Gail Hambly to confirm by noon of October 8 that they “will not publish the intended article with those unfounded and libellous allegations”.

Fairfax Media runs the Sydney Morning Herald, which published the report on October 8.

In the letter, Dalzell said the allegations that the newspaper were planning to publish amounted to saying that the chief executive is “a corrupt public official, unethical, willing to engage in fraudulent activity at the public’s expense for his own gain, dishonest, and not a fit and proper person to hold public office”.

The newspaper report suggested that Leung had received HK$50 million from the Australian engineering firm UGL, six months before he became chief executive. UGL wanted to buy the insolvent property firm DTZ, of which Leung was a director. The agreement between Leung and UGL arose as a side deal from the acquisition.

The deal, made two days before Leung resigned from DTZ and the completion of the takeover, stipulated Leung would receive the money in two instalments in 2012 and 2013. UGL and Leung said the money was to prevent him from joining or forming a rival firm within two years.