bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Macau's 'trial of the century' is set to start on November 5, with former minister Ao Man-long  battling 76  counts of bribe-taking, money laundering and abuse of power.
Ao's lawyer, Nuno Simoes,  said his client was less spirited after months of confinement but was 'generally in good health'.
The former secretary for transport and public works fell from grace in a surprise arrest in December.
In the build-up  to the trial, Mr Simoes said his phone might have been tapped by the government. He also complained that releasing photographs of luxury goods seized from Ao's residence might have prejudiced a fair trial.
Earlier this year, graft-busters found cash,  bonds and various luxury goods belonging to Ao and his wife worth 800 million patacas.
Graft-busters have named five large projects in which Ao is suspected of abusing his power and taking bribes between 2004 and last year.
But legislator Au Kam-san  said it didn't make sense  that only one land sale had been listed among them. 'Based on the enormous wealth uncovered at Ao's residence, the graft case should have less to do with public projects that cost only hundreds of millions [of patacas],' Mr Au said. Suspect land sales approved by Ao often involved billions of patacas, he said.
The only land sale identified by graft-busters involved a planned 10,000 sq ft luxury villa. The trial, which involves more than 90 witnesses,  promises to be a long one.



'Trial of century' set for Macau