Father and son property tycoons block key evidence in criminal probe
Prudential Enterprise chief and son persuade court to disallow documents from son's ex-wife
The billionaire head of Prudential Enterprise and his son succeeded in preventing prosecutors from accessing key evidence for a criminal case against them, in a ruling by the city's top court yesterday.
The documents, which a lower-court judge has said were forged, are covered by legal professional privilege and cannot be passed to the Secretary of Justice for him to pursue the case against property tycoon Samuel Tak Lee and his son Samathur Li Kin-kan.
That privilege protects communication between a legal adviser and his client.
The Court of Final Appeal also noted the documents were used as evidence in Li's 2011 divorce battle with solicitor Florence Tsang Chiu-wing, which was fought behind closed doors and therefore cannot be disclosed.
Yesterday's ruling bars Tsang from releasing those documents. But she will be allowed to provide non-privileged materials from two weeks after the panel of five judges gives its reasons for the ruling.
It's not yet clear exactly when the judges will do that.
Tsang's lawyer, Charles Howard QC, argued that she should be given permission to release the documents as she had a right to report a crime.