How corruption scandal of shamed prosecutor Warwick Reid unfolded
It was Black Hawk Down, but not on the war-torn streets of Somalia depicted in Ridley Scott's 2001 Hollywood blockbuster. The date was November 29, 1994, and the venue was the maximum security Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre in the New Territories. The notoriety of Warwick Reid, who rose to the position of Hong Kong's top prosecutor, and the perceived threat to his safety forced the British colonial government into drastic action.
It was Black Hawk Down, but not on the war-torn streets of Somalia depicted in Ridley Scott's 2001 Hollywood blockbuster.
The notoriety of Warwick Reid, who rose to the position of Hong Kong's top prosecutor, and the perceived threat to his safety forced the British colonial government into drastic action.
Officials deemed it necessary to fly him to the Cathay Pacific jumbo waiting to deport him at the old Kai Tak Airport in a HK$100 million Black Hawk helicopter. Reid, who four years earlier had been convicted of taking HK$12.4 million in bribes as the city's acting Director of Public Prosecutions, had cut a plea deal to minimise his sentence by turning Crown witness.
It afforded him a status unlike any other prisoner, including the helicopter ride.
The story of Reid's downfall, arrest, escape to the criminal underworld of Manila - via Macau and Guangdong - his re-arrest by the Independent Commission Against Corruption and subsequent attempts to incriminate friends and foes alike is the stuff of legend.
