Appeal starts against ex-TVB chief Stephen Chan's acquittal for bribery

The ICAC yesterday began its appeal against the acquittal of ex-TVB general manager Stephen Chan Chi-wan and his then assistant on corruption charges.

The government's lawyers called on the Court of Appeal to reverse the ruling, claiming that the District Court had made mistakes in applying the bribery law at the initial trial.

If the acquittal is overturned, the court could find Chan guilty or send the case back to the District Court, either for retrial or for the ruling to be reconsidered.

In September last year Chan went on trial for receiving HK$112,000 behind his employer's back from Olympian City in 2010 to perform in the live talk show Be My Guest, which was held at the mall.

While he had engaged in the production of more than 150 episodes of Be My Guest, free of charge for the station, on this occasion Chan was paid through a company run by his co-accused, Edthancy Tseng Pei-kun. Acting Chief District Judge Poon Siu-tung acquitted Chan of three charges under the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance, ruling that Chan had played host as a celebrity or an artiste, not as a TVB general manager.

But Eric Kwok Tung-ming SC, for the ICAC, said Chan should not have been acquitted as the work was not "genuine moonlighting" - that is, unrelated to TVB's business. Kwok said Chan's hosting of a talk show on the channel he managed would influence the station's programming decisions.

Kwok also argued Chan could not rely on the defence of reasonable excuse - that Chan, in the opinion of a reasonable man, should not be convicted.