Rafael Hui, 66, the city’s chief secretary from 2005 to 2007, was sentenced to 7 1/2 years for five charges including acceptance of HK$8.5 million from Kwok in exchange for favorable treatment for Sun Hung Kai. Thomas Chan, a former executive director of the company, was sentenced to six years imprisonment, while Francis Kwan the fourth man convicted of the conspiracy last week, got five years.
The city’s biggest graft trial ended last week with the nine-member jury finding the four men guilty and Kwok stepping down from the company he headed with his
younger brother Raymond Kwok since 2011. Raymond, who was also a defendant in the case, was acquitted of all four charges against him and continues as the sole chairman of Sun Hung Kai, the world’s second-most valuable real estate firm.
Thomas Kwok, who nodded his head as his sentencing was translated to him, is also disqualified for five years as a company director. Raymond was present in the courtroom’s public gallery when his elder brother’s sentence was delivered.
Sentencing is “particularly difficult when one is dealing with otherwise decent men who are not young, but who have committed serious offenses,” High Court Judge Andrew Macrae said today.
Appeals Conviction
Thomas Kwok, 63, and Thomas Chan, 68, will be appealing their convictions, Sun Hung Kai said in a statement late Dec. 19 after the jury delivered the verdicts. Kwok was acquitted of two other charges while Chan was found guilty on both charges against him.The charges against the five men were brought by the Independent Commission Against Corruption, or ICAC. Thomas and Raymond Kwok were arrested on March 29, 2012, sparking the company’s biggest share plunge in 14 years.
Shares rose 2.2 percent yesterday, the most in 2 1/2 months, as they resumed trading for the first time since the verdicts. They advanced 1.3 percent as of 11:55 a.m. local time today.
Both brothers have a net worth of over $10.5 billion each, ranking them among Asia’s top 25 richest, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The case is Hong Kong Special Administrative Region v Rafael Hui, Thomas Kwok, Raymond Kwok, Thomas Chan and Francis Kwan, HCCC98/2013, in Hong Kong’s High Court.
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