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Fox Yi Hu

Court told of land-sink snags at StarWorld site
Former Macau government minister Ao Man-long fast-tracked the completion check on StarWorld  so Galaxy Entertainment's flagship casino hotel  could open in October last year despite problems  with the project, Macau's top court heard yesterday.
Mak Chi-hong, senior investigator for the Commission Against Corruption, testified against Ao on the 10th day of Macau's biggest graft trial.
Joaquim Farinha Lourenco, a department head with the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau, found 'problems related to land sinking' with the StarWorld Hotel, which was built on reclaimed land, and submitted a written report to his superiors  on September 29 last year. But the project soon passed the government's completion check and the casino hotel  opened on October 19.
The court was told that investigators found a note in Ao's office with a line saying: 'Lourenco indicates StarWorld has difficulty passing completion check. Please help.'
Ao, the former secretary for transport and public works, is facing  76 counts in the Court of Final Appeal of bribe-taking, money laundering, false statement and abuse of power.
In Ao's handwritten notes, investigators also found the words 'StarWorld completion check' followed by a tick sign.
Mr Mak  testified that the tick  meant Ao had solved the problem for Galaxy.
Ao also wrote in his notes 'galaxy three per cent' and separately, 'StarWorld 1,000' followed by a tick sign.
Mr Mak  testified this meant that Ao had pocketed about HK$10 million, equivalent to 3 per cent of the StarWorld's construction cost of HK$358 million.
'Ao Man-long often used a tick sign to indicate he had received an expected kickback for a project,' he told the court. The prosecution alleged that Ao had received the kickback from Ho Meng-fai, contractor of the StarWorld project.
Mr Ho, owner of San Meng Fai Engineering and Construction, had an agreement with Galaxy Entertainment that he would be subject to a fine of HK$440,000 per day in the event of the project's delay, the court heard.
Mr Ho allegedly provided kickbacks worth HK$162 million to Ao over 18 projects,  the prosecution said. Mr Ho was arrested last December and later released on bail. But the police failed to find him when the court summonsed him this month.
The court heard that Galaxy vice-chairman Francis Lui Yiu-tung dined with Ao in late June 2005 at the Golden Dragon hotel, in a meeting arranged by Mr Ho.
According to Ao's notes, the defendant had privately met  Mr Ho  at least 20 times between 2003 and  last year, Mr Mak said.
Kickbacks started flowing into Ao's accounts after each private meeting between the defendant and Mr Ho, the court heard.
For instance, a day after the two met on August 5, 2004, Mr Ho arranged for a HK$2 million cheque to be credited into an account of Citygrand Management, a shell company controlled by Ao, the court heard. In the week that followed, Mr Ho ordered a number of other transfers into Citygrand Management.
Investigators found the defendant had frequent phone conversations with Mr Ho  during tender or completion checks. There had been at least 136 phone calls between Ao and Mr Ho between 2003 and  last year, the court heard. When seeing an incoming call from Mr Ho, Ao often rejected it and called back with a different sim card, Mr Mak said.
Similarly, the defendant had frequent phone conversations with Tang Kim-man of Tong Lei Construction and Engineering, and Chan Tong-sang of Chon Tit Macau Investment and Development during tendering processes, the court heard.
The trial continues tomorrow.



Ao 'fast-tracked hotel after problems found'