Businesswoman Cheyenne Chan denies paying flat deposit for senior Hong Kong official Wilson Fung after they became lovers to keep him sweet for her dealings with government
- Chan said she didn’t know co-defendant Fung was deputy secretary for economic development when she paid deposit
- She also said she didn’t know Fung would be handling her company HK Express’ application for air traffic rights when she visited him
A businesswoman who paid a HK$510,000 initial deposit for a former Hong Kong official’s flat purchase denied in court on Friday she was using the money to keep him sweet towards her helicopter companies.
Cheyenne Chan Ung-iok, 63, said she did not know co-defendant Wilson Fung Wing-yip, 55, was the deputy secretary for economic development and labour when she paid for his flat deposit on September 28, 2004, after they had become lovers.
The sister-in-law of gaming tycoon Stanley Ho Hung-sun also said she did not know Fung would be handling her company HK Express’ application for air traffic rights when she visited him in Washington while he was on a duty trip in April 2005.
But her third day of testimony at the District Court produced inconsistent answers to key questions about her involvement in government affairs, such as whether she had seen Fung at a meeting they both attended and the extent of her contact with his Economic Development and Labour Bureau.
Prosecutor Maggie Wong Pui-kei SC suggested Chan had paid the HK$510,000 (US$65,000) to Fung as a sweetener because she knew he was an influential deputy secretary in the government.
