Ex-development secretary Mak Chai-kwong charged with fraud
Former development minister Mak Chai-kwong and assistant highways director Tsang King-man were charged on Wednesday morning by the ICAC with cheating on government rent allowances in the 1980s.
Mak, 62, and Tsang, 57, will face a joint charge of conspiracy to defraud the Hong Kong government of more than HK$700,000 when they appear in court on Friday.
Mak also faces two counts of using a document with intent to deceive the government while Tsang faces three such charges, according to the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
Both men were released on bail and will appear in Eastern Court on Friday, pending transfer to the District Court.
The joint charge alleges they conspired together to defraud the government between June 8, 1985, and December 31, 1990.
The ICAC said Tsang and Mak cheated on a government housing allowance scheme involving about HK$260,000 for Tsang and HK$445,000 for Mak.
The two men were charged when they reported back to the ICAC on Wednesday morning.
Also reporting back to the ICAC headquarters in North Point, at the same time, were their wives, who were not charged.
The two couples were arrested on July 12, just 12 days after Mak took office as Secretary for Development. He resigned on the same day, but Tsang remains assistant highways director.
Mak, a civil servant for 37 years before his retirement in 2010, was succeeded by Paul Chan Mo-po.
