Ex-Hong Kong minister Patrick Ho’s US$2.9 million corruption trial opens, as defence calls it a ‘bribery case with no bribes’
- Lawyer Benjamin Rosenberg tells court that payments made to African officials were donations and contributions
- He argues that prosecution witness Cheikh Gadio is testifying against Ho because he plans to run for president in Senegal
This is a bribery case with no bribes, a lawyer for former Hong Kong minister Patrick Ho Chi-ping told the court as his US$2.9 million corruption trial opened in New York on Monday.
In addition to arguing that the sums Ho had given to various African officials on behalf of a Chinese energy giant were donations rather than bribes, the defence said that key prosecution witness Cheikh Gadio was testifying against Ho because he planned to run for president in Senegal.
The trial began on Monday after US District Judge Loretta Preska together with the prosecutor and defence teams went through a four-hour jury selection procedure. Twelve primary jurors and three substitutes – 11 women and four men – were selected for the trial, which is expected to last two weeks.
Ho, who was Hong Kong’s home affairs minister from 2002 to 2007, was arrested in the US and has been behind bars since last November, having sought and been denied bail five times.
He earlier pleaded not guilty to eight charges: three for money laundering and five for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The prosecution will have to secure unanimous verdict from the jury for each charge.