Political adviser pleads ignorance in vote-rigging case
I didn't know it was illegal to use someone else's address to register, says Guangzhou politician
A Guangzhou political adviser accused of vote rigging told a court yesterday he did not know it was illegal to register using his secretary's address.
Eastern Court heard the secretary, Peggy Li Yuk-yee, had worked for Fong Kei-wah for nearly 20 years and had filled in his form. Fong said he had not read the form before he signed it.
Fong, 49, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference of Guangzhou, is facing one count of engaging in corrupt conduct with respect to voting at an election.
He voted in the Lok Hong constituency of Eastern District in last November's district council elections, using Li's address in Shan Tsui Court, Chai Wan, for registration.
The court heard yesterday that Fong, the director of Hua Young Group Limited, had been using Li's address as a "correspondence address" since opening an account at HSBC in 2003.
Fong had moved to Guangzhou by then to take better care of his trading business and no longer had an address in Hong Kong as he had sold his property in the Mid-Levels.
Fong, represented by Caesar Lo Chi-lam, said he was not aware he needed to have a residential address in the city to vote. The form was filled out by Li, and he did not read the form in detail before signing, he said. "It's my habit."