Patrick Ho Returns To Hong Kong After US Jail Term

Former home affairs secretary, Patrick Ho, has arrived in Hong Kong after completing his prison term in the United States for corruption.

It’s said that he was tested for Covid-19 at the AsiaWorld-Expo upon arrival, and left hours later.

The former SAR minister was arrested in the US in 2017, and found guilty in December 2018 on seven out of eight counts of bribery and money laundering in a United Nations-linked case, concerning oil rights for CEFC China Energy in Chad and Uganda.

He had been part of a think-tank in the US, financed by the private mainland energy giant to promote Beijing's Belt and Road trade initiative.

The court heard that Ho used his position running CEFC's think tank to line the pockets of government officials as the oil and gas giant sought to expand its business around the world.

Ho remained defiant in the face of the charges and after being found guilty, described himself as “the first of the sacrificial lambs of such hostility" against China.