Pedro Chiang gets seven years in jail

The Court of First Instance sentenced local businessman Pedro Chiang to six years and 10 months in jail for eight crimes of active corruption, in the fifth case connected to the Ao Man Long scandal, according to Rádio Macau.
However, the judges claimed Chiang could not be convicted for abuse of power because he was not a public servant.
56-year-old Chiang fled Macau in 2007 before being called to testify by the Commission against Corruption and being trialled in absentia. He is now in Portugal and has shown no intention of returning to the territory, his attorney João Miguel Barros told Macau Daily Times.
Because Chiang will not be officially informed of the court’s decision, it will be impossible to appeal and the sentence will never enforced, Barros added.
However the lawyer admitted to being “deeply disappointed” not only with Chiang’s sentence but also with the whole case.
“I was hopeful that the court would clearly and unequivocally reject the illegal searches made on Ao’s house,” he said.
“There were just too many irregularities and too many bad and objectionable deeds in this whole process,” Barros bemoaned.
Engineer Chan Lin Ian, who has also disappeared, was the only other defendant to receive a prison sentence: six years and six months in jail for eight crimes of active corruption. Still, the brother-in-law of Ao’s brother was acquitted of passive corruption.
Four other defendants received suspended prison sentences, including Chiang’s associate. Wu Ka I’s sentence of one year and 10 months for two crimes of active corruption will be suspended for two and a half years. The businessman will also have to pay a MOP 800,000 fine.
The three businessmen who admitted bribing former secretary Ao to win two construction contracts at the Macau Stadium will pay a fine of MOP 100,000 each. Ng Cheok Kun, Tang Chong Kun and Ngai Mang Kuong got a 10-month jail sentence, suspended for two years.
The other seven defendants were acquitted, including Chan Lin Ian’s wife Lam Man I – who spent time in custody –, Ao’s wife Camila Chan Meng Ieng, the manager of the former secretary’s offshore companies, Lei Leong Chi, architect Yeung Tong Lai and Chiang’s father Lam Him.
All 13 defendants were acquitted of the accusations of money laundering.
Former secretary for Transport and Public Works, Ao Man Long, was jailed for 28-and-half years on charges of money laundering and corruption involving at least MOP 800 million in bribes and other ill-gotten gains.

V.Q.