Hong Kong graft watchdog arrests minister
13 July 2012 1:59 AM GMT
Hong Kong’s anti-corruption watchdog said on Thursday it had arrested a minister for allegedly abusing his housing allowances, as the city’s new government was rocked by its first major scandal.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption [ICAC] said it had arrested four people including a minister and a senior civil servant for allegedly violating their government housing allowances. Public broadcaster RTHK identified the officials as development minister Mak Chai-kwong and Tsang King-man, an assistant highways director. An ICAC spokesman declined to comment when contacted by AFP. The arrest came shortly after officials said Mak, who only last week took charge of a portfolio overseeing housing matters, had resigned with immediate effect.
The 62-year-old minister has been dogged by allegations that he and Tsang misused public funds for ‘cross-leasing’ flats to each other in the 1980s while both were claiming a government housing allowance.
Chinese-language newspaper Apple Daily News cited land registry documents to show they had bought adjacent flats and leased them to each other.
It said Mak had claimed a total of USD 32,250 in civil service tenancy allowances from 1986 to 1988, but the minister has denied any wrongdoing.
‘I gave [the civil service bureau] all the facts, and I don’t think I breached any regulation,’ Mak told local radio according to The Standard daily. ‘I have followed regulations and I don’t think the matter involves my personal integrity,’ he added.
The scandal is a blow to newly installed leader Leung Chun-ying, who took power as chief executive on 1 July after promising to restore government integrity in the eyes of an increasingly sceptical public.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption [ICAC] said it had arrested four people including a minister and a senior civil servant for allegedly violating their government housing allowances. Public broadcaster RTHK identified the officials as development minister Mak Chai-kwong and Tsang King-man, an assistant highways director. An ICAC spokesman declined to comment when contacted by AFP. The arrest came shortly after officials said Mak, who only last week took charge of a portfolio overseeing housing matters, had resigned with immediate effect.
The 62-year-old minister has been dogged by allegations that he and Tsang misused public funds for ‘cross-leasing’ flats to each other in the 1980s while both were claiming a government housing allowance.
Chinese-language newspaper Apple Daily News cited land registry documents to show they had bought adjacent flats and leased them to each other.
It said Mak had claimed a total of USD 32,250 in civil service tenancy allowances from 1986 to 1988, but the minister has denied any wrongdoing.
‘I gave [the civil service bureau] all the facts, and I don’t think I breached any regulation,’ Mak told local radio according to The Standard daily. ‘I have followed regulations and I don’t think the matter involves my personal integrity,’ he added.
The scandal is a blow to newly installed leader Leung Chun-ying, who took power as chief executive on 1 July after promising to restore government integrity in the eyes of an increasingly sceptical public.
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