Pair denies bribes to Ao Man Long

Two former directors of Macau Waste Systems Company (CSR) have denied accusations made in a Hong Kong court that they bribed ex-secretary for Transport and Public Works, Ao Man Long.
According to South China Morning Post, Lionel John Krieger, 62, and James Tam Ping Cheong, 56, pleaded not guilty to conspiring with CSR administrator Frederico Nolasco da Silva to bribe Ao with MOP 29 million.
Nolasco da Silva was sentenced by a Macau court to a jail term of six years for active corruption and money laundering. The local businessman is serving his sentence in Portugal but will testify by video conference this week.
The goal, says the case brought forward by the Independent Commission Against Corruption of Hong Kong, was to help CSR win and later renew its solid waste management contract.
The accusation involves three contracts worth MOP 1.1 billion, from January 2002 to December 2006. Last September the government extended the solid waste management contract with CSR until March and pledged to then launch a public tender open to outside bidders.
Prosecutor Neil Mitchell told the court that in 2002 or 2003 Ao asked CSR for a ‘present’ of five percent of the tender value, worth about MOP 50 million, in order to renew the contract and later stopped making payments under the existing contract.
The accusation claims Nolasco da Silva used a company owned by his wife to disguise the bribes as consultancy fees, through five cheques amounting to HKD 7.4 million that were deposited into the bank account of Ao’s father.
Ao 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. He was called up to testify in the ongoing Hong Kong trial.