Hong Kong charges ex-legislator Chim Pui-chung, his son for fraud and a businesswoman for money laundering
- Chim Pui-chung and his son Ricky Chim Kim-lun were charged with conspiring to commit fraud, a businesswoman Wong Poe-lai was charged for money laundering, ICAC said
- The Chims were released on HK$2 million bail each, Wong’s bail was set at HK$200,000
A businesswoman linked to the case was also charged.
The Chims were released on HK$2 million bail each, while Wong’s bail was set at HK$200,000 by the acting Principal Magistrate Jason Wan Siu-ming at the Sha Tin Magistrate’s Court. The trio were ordered to surrender their travel documents, observe a travel ban, report to police once a week and stay away from all prosecution witnesses.
The case will be heard on February 28 next year, when all proceedings will be merged with a fourth defendant, Ma Zhonghong, a 48-year-old merchant, who was charged with two counts of conspiracy to defraud and one of money laundering over the same plot. Ma was denied bail as he has already been remanded in custody on a separate charge of illegally entering Hong Kong in June.
Chim, a former stockbroker dubbed the “golden banker” for owning stakes in 25 publicly traded companies, served in Hong Kong’s legislature from 2004 to 2012 until his retirement.
Chim became a substantial shareholder of Hong Kong-listed Asia Resources Holdings, a manufacturer of pharmaceutical and health care products, in October 2008. His son was chairman of the company between 2008 and 2014.
Ma, an associate of Wong, conspired with the Chims and other unidentified persons to commit fraud by concealing his agreement to pay HK$210 million to the duo to control between 70 per cent and 75 per cent of Asia Resources between July 2013 and November 2015, the ICAC said. The deal constituted a back door listing because it denied the stock exchange and other shareholders of the opportunity to scrutinise the transaction, the ICAC said.
Wong and Ma were charged with money laundering for handling HK$42 million in proceeds from a placement of convertible notes issued by Asia Resources, considered the proceeds of an indictable offence.
The ICAC said the investigation arose from a corruption complaint referred by the Securities and Futures Commission. The commission and the stock exchange rendered full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation, the commission said.
