High-level aviation official charged with bribery

A Hong Kong official in charge of aviation affairs who is married to another highranking official was charged on Friday with bribery and misconduct in public office, both in connection with a HK$510,000 property deal.

The prosecution against Wilson Fung Wing-yip, one of the executive directors of the Airport Authority Hong Kong, and a former heavyweight of the city’s then Economic Development and Labour Bureau, was charged by the city’s Independent Commission Against Corruption.

Also on Friday, the Airport Authority, a statutory body wholly owned by the special administrative region government and responsible for the operation and development of Hong Kong International Airport, suspended Fung with immediate effect. Fung has held his position since 2010.

Fung was accused of receiving HK$510,000 from businesswoman Cheyenne Chan Ung-iok, who was director and shareholder of three aviation companies including Helicopters Hong Kong, Hong Kong Express Airways and Heli Express. Chan is also a sister-in-law of Macao casino tycoon Stanley Ho Hungsun.

The money was taken as a reward for being favorably disposed to Chan and/or the three companies related to her, according to ICAC’s statement.

The sum was also said to be the initial deposit money for Fung’s purchase of a property in Robinson Road, Mid-Levels.

Accordingly, Chan has been charged with offering an advantage to a public servant.

The alleged bribery took place in 2004, during Fung’s tenure in the Economic Development and Labour Bureau. Being a deputy secretary of the bureau, Fung was also the head of the bureau’s Aviation Division, who was responsible for air service negotiations, designation of carriers and allocation of air traffic rights.

Meanwhile, Fung was also charged with misconduct in public office including accepting the money, not declaring the acceptance of the money as well as a conflict of interest to the government, and not avoiding the conflict, according to ICAC’s statement.

Fung’s wife, Betty Fung Ching Suk-yee, has been head of the government’s Policy Innovation and Coordination Office since April. The office is a revamped government body mainly responsible for policy research and innovation, and coordination across bureaus and departments. Its leader reports directly to the chief executive.

Fung and Chan have been released on bail, pending their court appearance next Tuesday.