Former officials want names cleared in decades-old flat-rental scam

Former development minister Mak Chai-kwong and former assistant highways director Tsang King-man set out yesterday to clear their names after they were convicted in a rent-allowance scam case going back more than 20 years.

John Reading SC, the lawyer for the two former officials, argued in the Court of Appeal that the trial judge erred in ruling that the pair had a beneficial interest in flats they claimed to be renting.

He also said District Court Judge Johnny Chan Jong-herng was wrong to accuse them of lying as they had had to recall very old transactions.

"The judge was not entitled to draw the inference as there is no direct evidence for it," he said.

Convicted in August last year on one count each of conspiracy to defraud, the two men were given eight-month jail terms suspended for two years.

The District Court heard earlier that Mak and Tsang each bought a flat in City Garden, North Point, in 1985, in their wives' names. They leased the flats to one another and applied for allowances under the government's private tenancy scheme.

In the trial, the pair claimed their problems stemmed from the fact that when Mak wanted to move into government quarters in 1990, Tsang agreed to exchange the title of his wife's flat with him and allowed Mak to sell the property and keep the money. Yesterday, Reading said the trial judge was wrong to infer from this that Mak had a financial interest in the flat while he rented it and in concluding that the pair had planned it since 1986.