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SCMP Reporter

FOUR children, a wife, two flats and a pregnant mistress were more than William Liew Kwok-shan's budget could stand.

  The Transport Department chief engineer turned to corruption because his wallet and his nerves had been stretched to breaking point, defence lawyer Kevin Egan told the District Court yesterday.

  Deputy Judge Line told the defendant: 'You wanted the family home to remain intact as well as providing a home for your mistress. You did not have the ready money to do both. You turned to crime and corruption for the money.'   Mr Egan said Liew's costly love triangle triggered a paranoid personality disorder, driving him to solicit $400,000 in bribes.

  The chief engineer was found guilty of soliciting and accepting a bribe and sentenced to 41/2 years in prison.

  A psychiatrist said Liew's actions were 'explicable in terms of an odd man with a significant personality problem overwhelmed by the conflicting demands of an angry family and a pregnant lover'.

  In the middle of 1993, 57-year-old Liew embarked on an 'intense' affair. When his wife, 55, found out about it six months later, she and their four children banded together and demanded that he end it.

  But Liew refused. Mr Egan said Liew felt he could neither leave his 28-year-old lover nor divorce his wife.

  When his mistress became pregnant, the engineer desperately wanted to buy her a small flat. But he could not afford it.

  'Corruption was a quick way to find money,' the judge noted.

  The mistress terminated her pregnancy after Liew was arrested.

  Mr Egan argued that Liew's psychiatric disorder lay at the heart of his reckless desire for money.

  His condition, according to a psychiatrist's report, was due to 'a pervasive distrust and suspiciousness of others such that their motives are interpreted as malevolent'. Stress could trigger psychotic episodes, the report said.

  Liew's employers fanned the flames of Liew's paranoia by passing him over for promotion, Mr Egan said.

  But the judge said he did not believe that mental illness was to blame for Liew's crime. 'The fact is that you had managed to create difficulties in your personal life through your own behaviour,' he said.

  The judge said he had imposed a heavy sentence to underline the odious nature of corruption.

  'Your corrupt act puts a price on that to which the public are freely entitled. It undermines the hard-won standards of public service in Hong Kong which are central to its continued prosperity.'   On April 7 last year, Liew was caught red-handed accepting $100,000 from developers seeking to build a new car park in Ma Hang Chung Road, To Kwa Wan.

  When transport bosses threw out their application, Liew hinted to Kar Ha Development Company consultants that he could smooth the way.

  The matter was reported to the Independent Commission Against Corruption, which taped conversations between Liew and a project manager.

  He was recorded asking for a $400,000 'reward', assuring the manager that he was '99 per cent' certain he could get their application through.

  Deputy Judge Line said he had considered Liew's clean record, years of service and emotional turmoil before passing sentence.



Costly love affair led to corruption