TVB host Stephen Chan's mall deal was fair, court hears
Station's ex-general manager Stephen Chan must now wait to see if acquittal is reversed
Former TVB general manager Stephen Chan Chi-wan had a reasonable excuse to get paid for a new year's eve TV special and not telling his employer, a court heard yesterday.
It was the second and last day of a submissions hearing at District Court as Judge Poon Siu-tung reconsidered his decision to acquit Chan and his former assistant Edthancy Tseng Pei-kun on charges of bribery.
The Court of Appeal sent the case back to Poon after deciding he had erred in law in acquitting the pair in 2011. It also directed the district court judge to decide whether the two had a reasonable excuse to defend themselves against the charges.
Yesterday, Chan's lawyer Joseph Tse Wah-yuen SC insisted Chan had no obligation to host the televised show at Kowloon's Olympian City mall for free.
He said the station was aware that Chan was entitled to get paid for his talk show even though he had hosted 159 episodes for free for TVB.
"A reasonable man would think getting paid was a business deal, as Chan attended the show as a celebrity, and he had a contract with Olympian City," he said. He said that TVB was aware that Olympian City paid for the appearances at its shopping mall shows.
Chan was paid for the Olympian City episode through a company run by Tseng.
