I Didn't Betray HK Government: Wilson Fung

The corruption trial of former senior civil servant Wilson Fung has heard that he had "absolutely not” betrayed his loyalty to the government despite having an affair with a Macau businesswoman.

Fung told the District Court on Tuesday that he discovered in a letter in June 2005 that his lover, Cheyenne Chan, was the executive director of Heli Express, saying he found it strange she hadn't mentioned this.

It was one and a half years after the two started their affair.

Fung, who was in charge of aviation policies, said he later realised Chan's business links could cause potential problems in future, so he decided to leave his government position because he didn't want to his family to find out about the affair.

He left the government at the end of 2006 and became the CEO of the Productivity Council.

When questioned by his lawyer if he had ever abused his power when dealing with the applications from Chan’s companies and had betrayed his loyalty to the government, Fung replied, “absolutely not.”

The two face bribery charges in connection with a HK$510,000 payment that Fung, the former deputy secretary to economic development and labour, allegedly received from Chan in 2004.

The prosecution says the money was a “sweetener” for Fung to be favourably disposed to Chan's three airline and helicopter companies.