Wilson Fung Attempts To Get Conviction Overturned

Former Hong Kong official Wilson Fung on Thursday urged the Court of Appeal to overturn his conviction for misconduct in public office, even though he has already finished serving his prison term for the offence.

Fung, a former deputy secretary for economic development and labour, was jailed for nine months last September after failing to disclose a conflict of interest when he accepted HK$510,000 from a Macau businesswoman in 2004.

The businesswoman, Cheyenne Chan, was also his mistress, and he received the money at a time when his office was dealing with applications for air traffic rights from companies that she owned.

His lawyer told a three-judge Court of Appeal panel that the trial judge had erred in his ruling and had failed to explain why it was improper for Fung to receive the money.

The lawyer also claimed there were new legal principles to consider regarding the offence of misconduct after the city's top court last year quashed former chief executive Donald's Tsang conviction on the same charge.

But the judges rejected this, saying the two cases are different in nature.

The vice-president of the court, Wally Yeung, also explained the problem with Fung receiving the payment from his mistress.

"There is nothing wrong in giving money to girlfriends or wives. You can give HK$510,000 or even HK$50 million...but adding up all the following incidents, that was improper," he said.

Fung's lawyer also argued that there was no hard evidence to show that his client had been aware of Chan's dealings with his office, a claim dismissed by the prosecutors.

The judges reserved their ruling until a later date.