Teresa Cheng May Have Broken Exco Rules: Regina Ip

Executive councillor Regina Ip said on Thursday that she believes Justice Secretary Teresa Cheng may have broken rules on declaring interests and the Chief Executive might be forced to look into the matter.

Ip's comment came shortly after Cheng rejected fresh allegations against her relating to luxury homes in the city, saying she was under no obligation to declare that her husband bought two Mid-Levels apartments last year.

The Ming Pao newspaper had reported that a search of the Land Registry and Companies Registry revealed that Cheng's husband Otto Poon bought a flat at The Albany, worth almost HK$90 million, and another at 1 Robinson Road for around HK$70 million.

One was said to have been purchased via company share transfers, and the paper alleged this could have helped Poon save millions in stamp duty.

Cheng had declared to the Executive Council that she owned four properties in Hong Kong, including some where unauthorised building works were uncovered shortly after she took up office early last year. But the two bought by Poon in 2018 were not declared, according to the Ming Pao report.

In response to the claim, Cheng told reporters that being as the properties in question are not owned by herself, she doesn't have to declare them.

She said she has been declaring her interests in accordance with the rules as a politically appointed official and executive councillor.

But Ip appeared to have a different understanding of the declaration requirements to Cheng.

"Under rules governing disclosing interests by executive councillors, we do need to disclose interests held by our close relatives, including spouses and children. If that report is true, definitely there is an omission on the part of the secretary for justice," Ip said.

"That needs to be dealt with by the chairman of the Executive Council, who is the Chief Executive."

Last month, Poon was found guilty of having a swimming pool installed without approval at his home next door to a house owned by Cheng in Tuen Mun. He was fined HK$20,000.

The Department of Justice had decided that no action would be taken against Cheng for unauthorised construction projects in her house, including a basement, because they were already there when she bought the property.

Last week, an Apple Daily report suggested Cheng may have breached conflict of interest rules by taking up three arbitration cases despite her appointment as justice secretary. In response, Cheng said she was no longer working on the cases, but did not say when she took up the work or whether the CE had given her permission to do so.