Bags of cash, flight attendant encounters and a hidden sauna: Macau court hears of secret life in Ho Chio-meng trial
Former prosecutor general has been sentenced to 21 years in jail for crimes including money laundering and fraud
Macau’s former top prosecutor Ho Chio-meng, once regarded as the city’s potential leader, made headlines in the local press after his arrest in February last year. His case put him at the centre of a barrage of revelations that shook the former Portuguese enclave.
Here are some accounts the court has heard throughout the high-profile trial:
• Ho was accused of using taxpayers’ money on a “resting room”, supposedly for foreign guests. But behind a fake wall, there was a suite with a ping-pong table, a pool table, massage equipment, sauna, mattresses and valuable furniture.
• Ho was allegedly involved in moving decorative items seized by customs to his private premises.
• A villa in Cheoc Van, Coloane, was rented between 2006 and 2014 by the prosecutor’s office, according to Ho, to receive guests. But the prosecution said that it was for Ho’s personal use. The rent cost 5.1 million patacas in public money.