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Patrick Ho
Hong KongLaw and Crime

Patrick Ho’s lawyers accuse US authorities of using ‘illegally’ obtained evidence in charges for US$2.9 million corruption scandal

They’ve asked a US court to suppress evidence including 35,000 pages of documents, a post-arrest statement made by Ho and contents of his mobile phone 

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Patrick Ho was working for the China Energy Fund Committee, a Hong Kong research group that receives funding from CEFC China Energy, at the time of his arrest. Photo: Franke Tsang
Alvin Lum
Former Hong Kong home affairs minister Patrick Ho Chi-ping’s lawyers have accused US authorities of using “illegally” obtained evidence to build their case against him for alleged money laundering and bribery.

According to a document seen by the Post, they applied to a New York court on Thursday, asking it to throw out a statement Ho made to FBI agents after he was arrested last November, along with other evidence taken from his mobile phone, saying it was collected illegally and should be suppressed.

Patrick Ho challenges six of eight charges against him in US$2.9 million corruption scandal

Ho’s lawyers also asked the court to block about 35,000 pages of evidence, mostly comprising emails seized from his Google and Yahoo accounts under warrant, arguing that the government had taken too long to assess how much of the material was relevant to their case.

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The 21-page document filed to the Southern District Court laying out these requests provided a trove of information on how the United States investigated and indicted the 68-year-old.

Ho was picked up at JFK airport on November 18 last year as he arrived for a business trip, the submission requesting evidence to be suppressed from his trial said. 

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