Ex-ICAC chief Timothy Tong 'strongly condemned' in pan-dem report

Five lawmakers say former anti-graft chief may have committed misconduct in public office

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Timothy Tong was found to have "damaged the image and tarnished the reputation of the ICAC" with the extravagant meals for guests, and drinking hard alcohol with mainland officials with whom he possibly had "unduly close contact". Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 4:30am, 10 Jul 2014Updated: 5:03am, 10 Jul 2014

Pan-democratic lawmakers yesterday came up with an alternative report against former top graft-buster Timothy Tong Hin-ming, alleging that the official one endorsed by their pro-government counterparts sought to "water down" Tong's guilt.

The official select committee report, which was welcomed by Tong, was seen as milder than the earlier Legislative Council report by the Public Accounts Committee. That report, issued last year, gave the strongest condemnation yet of Tong's "deplorable" overspending.

Select committee chairman Ip Kwok-him, of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, rejected the pan-democrats' criticism, saying there was no need to "dilute the gravity" of Tong's acts.

But the Civic Party's Dennis Kwok said: "The main report uses mild language to try to dilute the incident. The minority report is needed to truly reflect Hongkongers' views." He added that he was disappointed Ip did not allow the democrats' report to be incorporated into the main one.

In the minority report, the five pan-democrats in the select committee - Kwok, James To Kun-sun, Cyd Ho Sau-lan, Wong Yuk-man and Kenneth Leung Kai-cheong - "strongly condemned" Tong for wrongdoings.

They said Tong may have committed misconduct in public office when he was at the helm of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, from 2007 to 2012. "We understand that the ICAC has already commenced an investigation, and we propose that the ICAC should disclose the investigation results to the public," they said in the report.