A MAINLAND party official accused of accepting $260,000 from a property developer for approving a $7.2 million loan has been discharged in abstentia by Eastern Court.
Offering no evidence against Liu Zhongguo, Senior Assistant Crown Prosecutor Michael McMahon said the defendant had heart disease and could not return to Hong Kong for his trial.
There were difficulties in contacting prosecution witnesses in China and New Zealand, he said.
Mr Liu, 60, former managing director of the Guangdong International Company, had pleaded not guilty to five counts of accepting advantages worth $260,000 between August 11 and October 26, 1987, in return for approving a $7.2 million loan for the construction of 36 small houses in Sai Kung.
Magistrate Jonathan Acton-Bond ordered that $100,000 bail money be returned to Mr Liu.