It was eight o'clock on a cold morning last March when the knock came at the door of the luxury flat in Macdonnell Road, Mid-Levels. James DeBates, 46, was shaving as he prepared for another day at the Hong Kong consulate where he was the acting officer in charge of the INS, the US Immigration and Naturalisation Service.
Through the peephole, he saw an investigator from the Independent Commission Against Corruption and an agent from the Office of the Inspector-General, the American body charged with policing the INS.
These men were no strangers to Mr DeBates. Eight months earlier they had 'busted' his corrupt former boss at the consulate, Jerry Wolf Stuchiner, for his role in a smuggling racket involving passports and illegal immigrants. That scam struck at US credibility, putting at risk its relations with other countries over the integrity of sensitive information and causing consular and immigration officials immense embarrassment. To this day, the damage wrought on operations against illegal immigration is incalculable.
Mr DeBates recalled his shock at seeing the investigators on his doorstep. 'I figured: 'Well, shit. I know this happens for only one reason.' ' His mind reeling, Mr DeBates went back to the bathroom to finish shaving. He says he had no reason to suspect he was in trouble.
Just a few days earlier, the career officer of 21 years' standing said, his bosses in Washington had sent a cable informing him he would be posted to Beijing with the crucial task of opening an immigration office at the embassy there.
'So I sat there and I thought: 'What should I hide?' I couldn't think of anything. After 10 minutes I thought: 'Hell, I didn't do anything wrong.' So I opened the door.' When that door opened, another one slammed shut - on the world of Mr DeBates and his wife, Hedy. They were accused of accepting bribes and other blandishments in exchange for assisting with visa applications. Hedy, his Chinese-born American wife, was alleged to have acted as the go-between. She had worked at two jobs: one in direct marketing and one with a Chinese trading company. Later, the ICAC would allege the latter was a cover for corrupt activity.
Inside the apartment, Mr DeBates said, the ICAC officer told him: 'We're not after you, we're after some other people.' According to Mr DeBates, the investigator named two prominent local businessmen - both acquaintances of the couple - who allegedly had links with organised crime.