Thomas Kwok still owes me HK$2 million for paying Rafael Hui, says Thomas Chan
SHKP executive director tells court his boss Thomas Kwok promised to repay him in three instalments, but the third cheque never came
Sun Hung Kai Properties co-chairman Thomas Kwok Ping-kwong still owes the company's executive director Thomas Chan Kui-yuen HK$2 million, which was part of a sum Kwok asked Chan to pay former chief secretary Rafael Hui Si-yan in 2005, the High Court heard yesterday in the high-profile graft trial.
The trio, together with Kwok's younger brother Raymond Kwok Ping-luen and Hui's friend Francis Kwan Hung-sang, are defendants in the case.
Prosecutors say the two Kwok brothers, both SHKP co-chairmen, paid Hui HK$8.5 million and HK$11 million in 2005 and 2007, respectively, so he would be the company's "eyes and ears" in the government. Chan made the payments to Kwan via complex bank transactions.
In court yesterday, Chan - under examination by his lawyer Ian Winter QC - said his boss Thomas Kwok had on June 20, 2005, told him to pay Hui the HK$10.8 million balance that Kwok personally owed Hui as soon as possible, to avoid Hui having to declare the payment after taking on the city's chief secretary role on June 30.
Kwok said he would repay Chan in three cheques in order to hide the payments from his elder brother Walter Kwok Ping-sheung, then SHKP chairman, with whom Thomas Kwok did not have a good relationship, the court heard.
"Thomas Kwok said he did not want his mother or Walter Kwok to know about the payment," Chan said, adding that he never suspected the money could be payment for corruption.
But Kwok made only two payments to Chan: HK$4 million on June 20, 2005, and HK$4.8 million on June 28, 2005, the court heard.
"There was never a third cheque. It never came and I did not get my remaining HK$2 million back," Chan said. "I did not ask because [Thomas Kwok] had said he would pay back in three cheques by instalment, so I just waited."
Chan rejected the prosecution's allegation that the HK$4.8 million cheque was meant as 30 months' rent payment for Hui's Leighton Hill luxury apartment that was an SHKP property. The free rent allegedly formed part of the corruption payment.
Chan and his daughter and son run a family business that between 2007 and 2009 invested in a number of projects, most of which failed, including a 5.3 billion yuan industrial project in Wuhan that did not get authority approval.
Trial judge Mr Justice Andrew Macrae told the jurors yesterday that he expected the defendants' evidence to be completed by the end of the month. This would be followed by final submissions from the prosecutor and defendants' lawyers next month, and Macrae would then give his summary of the case in early December. Macrae said he hoped the trial could be concluded before Christmas.
Hui, 66, faces eight charges related to bribery and misconduct in public office. Thomas Kwok, 63, faces one charge of conspiracy to offer an advantage to Hui and two counts of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office. Raymond Kwok, 61, faces four charges, including one with Hui of furnishing false information. Chan, 68, and Kwan, 63, each face two charges.
All have pleaded not guilty to their charges. The hearing continues on Monday.
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