Former tenant disputes apartment swap claim

A former tenant of a North Point flat rejected a claim by former development minister Mak Chai-kwong and assistant highways director Tsang King-man that they swapped ownership of their flats in 1990.

Dennis Leung Hung-tsang, who leased flat 22E of City Garden from Tsang between 1988 and 1992, said he paid monthly rent for the place to Tsang during the four years.

Leung's evidence in the District Court matched that of the prosecution's, which alleged that if the pair truly swapped flats on December 1, 1990, as they claimed to have done by law, Tsang, the original owner of flat 22E, should not have received rental payments for it after that date.

Mak, 62, and Tsang, 57, are accused of defrauding the government of HK$700,000 by using properties they had a financial interest in to claim housing allowances. Mak also faces two counts, and Tsang three counts, of using documents with intent to deceive the government.

The duo allegedly entered into a fraudulent deal to buy two flats in the same City Garden building and then leased the properties to each other in the names of their wives, thereby concealing their financial interests in the flats, the court heard earlier.

The alleged incidents took place from June 1985 to December 1990.