Bags of cash, secret rooms: the case against Macau’s former prosecutor Ho Chio-meng

When it comes to the business of gaming, Macau, quite literally, is in a league of its own. In a fifth of the time it took Las Vegas – the erstwhile undisputed casino world champion – the tiny territory on the southern tip of the most populous nation on the planet has revolutionised the world of gambling and left even the most cynical of money men and women bereft of superlatives to describe the amounts of money it generates.

But as the up-down hoopla of casino stock prices generates daily headlines around the world, the trial of the city’s former top prosecutor Ho Chio-meng – a man once tipped to become the political figurehead of China’s only Special Administrative Region besides Hong Kong – has been largely ignored aside from scant coverage in the local Macau media.

Macau rocked as former top prosecutor held over multi-million dollar corruption racket

The former prosecutor general was arrested on February 27 last year. He is accused of more than 1,500 counts of corruption, fraud, money laundering, nepotism and other crimes. The Ho trial is due to re-start after the Lunar New Year recess. This Week in Asia offers a summary of the story so far.

The driver and the flight attendants:

Former prosecutor Ho’s driver Mak Hak Neng said he transported large amounts of money to the neighbouring mainland city of Zhuhai. The money was deposited in a bank account under Ho’s names.

Between 2005 and 2006 Mak said he crossed the border every month with bags of money containing amounts from HK$100,000 to HK$300,000. It is not clear how he managed to carry such sums over the mainland border without alerting the eye of customs authorities.