Macau’s former chief prosecutor Ho Chio Meng has been accused of 1,970 crimes such as embezzlement, fraud, money laundering, false testimony and illicit participation in business activities, the city’s top court said in a statement on Thursday.
According to the statement, the trial of Ho and 9 co-defendants is slated to start on December 5.
While the statement mentions the ex-chief prosecutor by his full name and former title, the nine co-defendants are only identified by their surnames – Chao, Chan, Lai, Lam, Lei, Ho, Mak, Wang, and Wong.
Ho’s long rap sheet includes 10 alleged cases of embezzlement, 19 alleged crimes of fraud and 503 alleged crimes of abuse of power. His charge sheet also includes one alleged crime of destroying government-owned property.
Ho and his co-defendants also stand accused of complicity in a raft of alleged crimes, such as 56 alleged cases of money laundering, as well as dozens of alleged cases of serious fraud.
Ho allegedly also participated in 434 illicit business activities.
Ho has been remanded in custody since February 26. He was arrested in the wake of a lengthy investigation by the Commission Against Corruption (CCAC).
According to Thursday’s statement by the Court of Final Appeal (TUI), the arraignments were completed last Friday.
Ho will be tried by the city’s highest court because of his former position as one of the 13 principal officials of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) appointed by the central government in Beijing.
Ho, who had headed the Public Prosecution Office since the establishment of the MSAR on December 20, 1999, is the second principal official to be tried by the city’s top court.
Former secretary for transport and public works Ao Man Long is serving a 29-year prison term for corruption, abuse of power, money laundering and other crimes.
Ho was the first chief prosecutor of Macau following its reversion from Portuguese to Chinese rule in 1999. He served in his position until December 20, 2014 but continued to work for the Public Prosecution Office in a senior position until his arrest.
(Macau News / The Macau Post Daily)
