T Court of Final Appeal (TUI) has decided on the appeals to the final court by the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) and Ng Lap Seng, one of the defendants in the case.
The case is known as the “Land, Public Works, and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) Case,” as it involved several businessmen in the construction sector and two former bureau directors, Jaime Carion and Li Canfeng.
In the TUI ruling, the judges concluded that “no concrete and objective factual elements proved the existence of a criminal organization beyond the individual purposes of its members. Therefore, the court did not agree with the conviction of the defendants for this crime.”
Regarding the charges of corruption and money laundering, TUI acquitted defendant Li of six charges of passive corruption, since he was not yet a public official when he received the benefits offered by the businessmen. This decision has also direct consequences for several other defendants who were accused of money laundering crimes.
The same court notes that since the previous conviction for participating in a “secret society or association” was overturned, the defendants could not be convicted of money laundering crimes.
The TUI also evaluated the requests from defendant Ng in response to MP’s appeal. The court considered that there was no need to discuss criminal procedures for the crime of participating in a secret society or association since the defendant had already been acquitted of that crime. Accordingly, the TUI considered that the request to suspend the sentence execution was legally inadmissible.
Finally, considering the acquittal of several defendants from various crimes, the TUI decided to send back the case to the Court of Second Instance (TSI) to reevaluate the sentences imposed on the defendants who did not file an appeal, such as Carion. In late November last year, the TSI had already decided to reduce the sentences imposed on several defendants in the case.
TSI reduced Li’s prison term from 24 to 17 years, acquitting him of seven of the 12 crimes of passive corruption for which he had been found guilty by the Court of First Instance (TJB).
The TSI judges also reduced Li’s count of money laundering crimes from 10 to four.
The TJB had initially sentenced the former public works heads, Li and Carion to 24 years and 20 years in prison respectively on charges of corruption, forgery, participation in a secret society or association, and money laundering.
The TSI also resulted in reduced sentences for other defendants such as developer Sio Tak Hong from 24 to 12 years, as well as for another two real estate businessmen, William Kuan and Ng, whose prison sentences were reduced from 18 years to five years and six months, and from 15 years to four years and six months respectively.
The reduction in sentences was also granted to other defendants, including Si Tit Sang (from 20 years to eight years), Ng Kei Nin (from eight years and six months to two years), Lau Pou Fong (from 10 years to three years and nine months), Miguel Wu (from 10 years to three years and nine months), and Siu Ka Kuen (from nine years to three years and six months). Huang Qijun, who had been initially sentenced to six and a half years, was fully acquitted.
The TSI retained the 20-year jail term handed to Carion, sentenced in absentia, who had not filed an appeal. The TUI wants this case to be resolved by the TSI in light of the new decision.
