TVB ex-manager Stephen Chan has decision on bribery charges delayed by Hong Kong court

Former TVB general manager Stephen Chan Chi-wan and his ex-assistant succeeded in delaying the consequences of three bribery charges this morning when a judge allowed them to take forward a bid to stay a Court of Appeal order that they be convicted and sentenced.

Chan, 55, and Edthancy Tseng Pei-kun, 33, were summoned to court this morning following a ruling by the appeal court that the pair should be convicted of the charges, which allege they received a HK$112,000 payment from a third party when Chan hosted a television show for the station on New Year’s Eve in 2009.

Lawyers for the pair today told the court they wanted to appeal against the appeal court’s decision by taking the case to the Court of Final Appeal, and they asked the judge to adjourn the case and not convict them today.

READ MORE: Former TVB manager Stephen Chan and assistant face guilty verdicts in bribery charge over HK$112,000 TV show payment

District Court Judge Poon Siu-tung, sitting in the High Court, said: “I find that it will be unreasonable if I do not let the defendants have time to make the application.”

Poon adjourned the case to December 18 and said if the Court of Appeal refused to stay the decision, Chan and Tseng would have to prepare to face sentencing that day.

The case centres on an episode of Chan’s talk show Be My Guest, which took place at Olympian City in Tai Kok Tsui on New Year’s Eve 2009.