Officer guilty of taking discounts and free liquor

A former Wan Chai police chief was convicted of misconduct in public office yesterday for getting discounts and liquor from a restaurant. The court has ordered further investigations as more officers are suspected to be involved.

Superintendent Titus Wong Koon-ho, 51, now suspended from duty, was found guilty of receiving discounts and whisky worth HK$5,500 from a Causeway Bay restaurant in exchange for turning a blind eye to it serving alcohol without a licence.

Wong later approved Chen Teen Bistro's licence application, despite knowing that it had served alcohol illegally. He even drank alcohol there when it had no licence, the court heard.

Magistrate Adriana Tse slammed Wong and other defence witnesses as dishonest and listed 39 points in their evidence which she said were contradictory and "ridiculous".

"I consider them very dishonest and untrustworthy witnesses and I would not accept their evidence," she said.

In one of the dinners in question, Wong paid only HK$379 for food that cost HK$2,268, but Wong insisted the bill was reasonable.

Chen Teen Bistro was formerly called Original Hot Pot, which had a liquor licence. Wong had argued that he did not know the restaurant had changed its name and thought the licence was still valid. But Tse said Wong should have known about the change as the new name was clearly written on the application. Wong had told the court he frequented the restaurant and knew the address very well, but he later said he did not know which floor it was on.