Senior Macau prison officer ‘bribed by inmate with HK$20,000 bottles of wine and luxury food'

A high-ranking Macau prison officer accused of taking lavish bribes from a inmate in return for special protection behind bars has become the latest victim of Beijing's campaign to clean up the city, it has emerged.

The chief prison officer was showered with gifts including HK$20,000 bottles of wine, luxury foreign travel and accommodation plus expensive food such as abalone and ginseng for allegedly "turning a blind eye'' to the unidentified prisoner's "illegal acts'', according to Macau's Commission Against Corruption.

His arrest - in a sting operation that included raids inside the prison and at the officer's home - comes in the wake of President Xi Jinping's call late last year for Macau to clean up its casino industry, establish clean government and build an economy less reliant on gaming.

It is also the first time since Macau returned to Chinese rule in 1999 that a high-ranking prison official had come under suspicion, the commission said.

The anti-graft agency only identified the suspect as a chief prison officer surnamed Wong and said the alleged bribes had been going on for "a long time'', an admission that one source close to the administration described as highly significant.

The authorities have declined to identify the prisoner, say why he is behind bars or what consequences he might face in connection with the investigation.

"At this moment, we have nothing to add to the statement we have released,'' a spokesman for the agency said last night.