THERE can be few tales of high Hong Kong corruption more venal than the downfall of government lawyer Charles Warwick Reid, the echoes from which still rattle the corridors of legal power in the territory.
Although the Privy Council in London this week gave the government the means to finally get the $12.4 million in bribes that Reid took before he was convicted in July 1990 the legal process here and in New Zealand will be lengthy.
Those bribes, amassed in 14 years of Legal Department service, remain ''unexplained'' but the circumstances surrounding them have been made all too clear in Reid's statements and testimonies since.
Reid, a 45-year-old New Zealander, managed to get three years shaved from his eight-year sentence by aiding in the convictions of prominent lawyers Oscar Lai, Eddie Soh and Alick Au and former Hang Lung Bank director Lee Hoi-kwong.
Three others, including barrister Kevin Egan, were acquitted on charges of helping Reid flee the ICAC.
Quite simply, Reid built his fortune - now salted away in houses, farms and banks in NZ and Singapore - by taking bribes to fix prosecutions while running the Commercial Crime Unit.
He then testified against those whose temptations he had surrendered to.