A top-ranking FBI official has been appointed security chief at the Hong Kong Jockey Club as part of a sweeping reorganisation aimed at keeping racing clean.
Timothy McNally, 51, the FBI's No 2 in California, will take up a position senior to the club's security controller David Twynham.
Mr McNally, whose official title will be director of security, starts work on April 26 and will be answerable only to Jockey Club chief executive Lawrence Wong Chi-kwong.
Mr Wong said last night that as Hong Kong racing moved into the international sphere, it needed an upgraded security division headed by a man with global law enforcement experience.
He described the selection process as a 'global search' and said candidates from Australia, Britain, North America and Hong Kong had been interviewed.
Mr McNally, who has a background in setting up organised crime and drug investigation units, will have the task of transforming the club's security department into a division with more power, more resources and a greater role in club affairs generally. The appointment follows a series of scandals involving alleged race-fixing and telephone tapping surrounding the club.
It also comes as fears over the spread of illegal gambling mount and as Jockey Club profits fall in the face of illicit and overseas betting.
