No due diligence done on Dubai’s Sheikh Ali Al Maktoum before he met Hong Kong’s John Lee and spoke at wealth summit
- Government official says no such protocol for routine courtesy meetings unless Chief Executive’s Office raised questions
- Cabinet adviser Ronny Tong says government should be more careful with early fanfare, after Dubai prince who pledged a US$500 million family office abruptly postpones its opening
Hong Kong authorities did not investigate the identity and financial background of a little-known Dubai prince who had pledged to set up a US$500 million family office locally before allowing him access to the city’s leader, the Post has learned.
They also did not subject him to any due diligence when they invited Sheikh Ali Rashed Ali Saeed Al Maktoum to a high-level summit as he had been recommended by businesspeople who had met him earlier in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
“It was challenging to scrutinise each person individually,” a source familiar with the summit said.
Controversy surrounding the prince began when he was reported at first to be a nephew of Dubai’s ruler and prime minister of the UAE but later identified as a member of a distant branch of the ruler’s family.
As questions swirled over his identity, a government adviser urged the authorities to run background checks on such guests before trumpeting them to “avoid egg on the face”.
During Maktoum’s recent stay in Hong Kong last week, he was received by city leader John Lee Ka-chiu on Tuesday as part of a group, and spoke at the high-end summit for prominent investors and global family office industry professionals on Wednesday.