'Bribery Accused Didn't Know Lover Had Influence'

Macau businesswoman Cheyenne Chan, who's facing trial for allegedly bribing former senior Hong Kong government official Wilson Fung, has told the District Court that she had no idea he was a man of some influence in the administration when she paid him HK$510,000.

Chan had previously said the money was a deposit for a flat Fung told her to buy in 2004 as an investment, but Fung ended up buying the flat himself after he decided it was a good bargain and had potential for appreciation.

Testifying on Friday, Chan said Fung never gave her the money back and she didn't remember ever asking him to return it.

When asked whether she knew between 2003 and 2006 that Fung was someone who had influence in the government, Chan said she did not.

She also denied the money was a "sweetener" to win the favour of Fung – with whom she had a decade-long affair.

Chan, a former director and shareholder of three aviation companies, is accused of paying Fung the HK$510,000 for him to be favourably disposed towards her and her three aviation companies, Helicopters Hong Kong, Hong Kong Express Airways and Heli Express.

Fung, the then deputy head of the Economic Development and Labour Bureau, faces charges of accepting an advantage and misconduct in public office.

During cross-examination, the prosecution asked Chan whether she understood at the time that a government official was not allowed to accept any monetary reward, apart from his own salary. Chan replied that she had known this.

And asked whether she had ever thought that giving money to Fung would do harm to him, Chan said she hadn't thought about that.

Chan admitted that she had accompanied Fung while he was on a work trip to Washington DC in 2005. But she denied knowing at the time that her company had been applying for aviation rights in four mainland cities, and that Fung had been involved in handling the applications.

She also said she hadn't been involved in Heli Express' bid to expand the heliport at the Hong Kong Macau Ferry Terminal, before it was tendered in 2006.

Throughout the cross-examination, a soft-spoken Chan repeatedly said that she didn't understand the prosecuting lawyer's questions and asked her to repeat them.

The trial was adjourned to June 18 when both sides are expected to make their closing speeches.