A former senior police officer jailed over a visa scam has been left in debt to the tune of $200,000 after Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa stripped him of an estimated $7 million pension package.
Retired senior superintendent Brian Heard - one of the world's leading firearms experts - will be $200,000 in debt to the Government after Mr Tung's decision.
The Sunday Morning Post has learned that Heard, previously the head of the Forensic Firearms Examination Bureau, is seeking to launch a High Court action against the Government after learning of his fate while still in jail.
He was awarded the Hong Kong Police Medal for Meritorious Service by Mr Tung in 1998 after 20 years with the force.
But Heard, 56, was sentenced last month to six months' jail after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide false information in order to help his friend Peter Coomber's Mongolian girlfriend get an employment visa. Coomber also pleaded guilty and received a six-month term.
Heard's supervisor, Chief Superintendent Martin Samson, told the District Court Heard would have received a commuted lump sum of $3.8 million plus a monthly pension of $23,000 had he not been convicted.
In the aftermath of the court case, the Civil Service Bureau told the Post that a high-level hearing would be convened to decide whether to award Heard his full entitlements.