Commission Against Corruption, Macao SAR

Today (22^nd April) the Court of Final Appeal pronounced the judgment on the second corruption case of former Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Ao Man Long. Ao, who is serving a term of imprisonment, is convicted of 24 out of 28 charges including bribe taking, money laundering and power abuse. As the law of Macao stipulates that the maximum length of imprisonment is 30 years, the collegiate bench sentenced him to an imprisonment of 28 years and 6 months and a fine amounting to MOP240,000.

In pronouncing the judgment, the chairman of the collegiate bench and President of the Court of Final Appeal, Sam Hou Fai, criticized Ao that being one of the principle officials of the Macao SAR Government, Ao had violated his duties and obligations and had defied the law, exploiting his power to use the administrative approval procedures as tools for gaining tremendous advantages so as to perform acts that benefited the bribers. Sam also censured Ao¡¦s behavior, which had made the administrative procedures of the government become ineffective, seriously hindering the administrative authorities from executing public power and causing unfairness. Moreover, Ao has deliberately concealed the bribes he had taken and has damaged the economic system. In the verdict, Sam pointed out that his behavior, which had greatly damaged the image and credibility of the Macao SAR Government and the rule of law, fully reflected his greed and unscrupulousness and that he had crazily and brazenly amassed wealth by illegal means and disrespected the law. The level of wilfulness was very high and serious and the circumstances were wicked. The number of times he committed crimes and the duration were unprecedentedly large and long.

The Court of Final Appeal found Ao guilty of charges involving 11 out of the 12 construction projects related to him, Pedro Chiang and Miguel Wu Ka I but acquitted him of the charge involving ¡§Grant of Sites at Lot B and Lot D Avenida de Venceslau de Morais and the Mong Ha Public Housing Project¡¨ since the court was unable to prove that the accused had received advantages. Among the 11 construction projects related to Chan Lin Ian, Ng Cheok Kun and Kun Fai Engineering and Construction Company, the criminal facts relating to ¡§Block B and C of Public Housing Complex at Ilha Verde¡¨ were not duly proved, but those involving the remaining 10 projects were proved by the court.

In his second corruption case, Ao was convicted of 24 out of 28 charges including bribe taking, power abuse and money laundering. Among the 24 charges, there were 18 counts of accepting bribes for performing illegal acts, 3 counts of accepting bribes for performing legal acts and 3 counts of money laundering. He was sentenced to 1 year and 6 months to 7 years¡¦ imprisonment for each count (details are stated in the table below). In pronouncing the judgment, Sam Hou Fai stressed that Ao had committed a total of 81 offences in the 2 corruption cases. If the offences were counted one by one, he would be liable to a total imprisonment of 368 years and 9 months. However, according to the law of Macao, the court should take into account the crimes committed before the determination of sentence for the offences in the first case together with the offences in the second case, so he was convicted of a total of 81 charges and was sentenced to a combined punishment, 28 years and 6 months¡¦ imprisonment and a fine of MOP240,000.

Moreover, the bribes amounting to more than MOP40 million received by Ao and the rights involved in the case, such as the rights to receive a villa at Penha Hill promised by Pedro Chiang and a duplex with parking space at Nam Van Lake promised by Pedro Chiang and Miguel Wu Ka I, will go to the government.

Ao¡¦s second corruption case went on trial on 18^th February and was adjudicated at the end of the 10^th session. The case mainly involved Ao Man Long, who received bribes in exchange for giving green light to the applications for land grant, land swap and relaxation of restriction on upper limit of height of buildings in favor of some local construction businessmen, including Pedro Chiang, Miguel Wu Ka I, Chan Lin Ian and Ng Cheok Kun, etc. The number of construction projects involved reached 23, including public works and private development projects. Pedro Chiang managed to exchange two small sites located at Lilau for a prime lot at Penha Hill for the purpose of building villas. Also, regarding the development of ¡§La Cite¡¨ at Areia Preta, Ao instructed his subordinates to relax the restriction on upper limit of height of buildings. During the trial, Jaime Roberto Carion, Director of the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau, pointed out in his testimony that Ao often directly granted contracts of public works to companies he preferred. While making the conclusion of the case, prosecutor Un Man Kuok strongly criticized that Ao, for his own interests, had many times violated the obligation and principles that public servants should fulfill and abide by and had seriously harmed the government¡¦s interest and had brought negative impact on the government¡¦s prestige.

Local construction businessmen who were involved in Ao¡¦s second corruption case, including Pedro Chiang and Chan Lin Ian, etc., are being wanted by the Interpol through Red Notice and have not yet been brought to justice.