Legco to question Timothy Tong
Public accounts committee to ask former ICAC head to explain 'inconsistencies' between his testimony and independent panel findings
The former head of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, Timothy Tong Hin-ming, will face fresh questioning by lawmakers next week about his spending on gifts and official trips during his five-year tenure.
The Legislative Council public accounts committee has planned hearings on Wednesday and Thursday after finding inconsistencies found between Tong's earlier testimony and a report by an independent panel.
"This committee has to be very fair, open, and at the same time search for the facts," committee chairman Abraham Razack said after a closed-door meeting yesterday that decided on the hearings.
"We are not picking on Tong. We are giving all parties a chance to explain the discrepancies."
The graft-buster's commissioner Simon Peh Yun-lu and community relations director Julie Mu Fee-man are also invited.
The independent review committee set up by the ICAC unveiled a report last week that found the agency had breached spending rules on at least 42 occasions between 2007 and last year. It detailed Tong's lavish spending on official entertainment, gifts and official visits. But it also criticised the agency's community relations department for failing to comply with the rules.
When the report was compared to evidence given by Tong in the Legco open hearing in May, there appeared to be "a number of discrepancies in a number of areas", Razack said.
