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Hong Kong property mogul Thomas Kwok released after more than three years in prison for bribery

  • Mogul was jailed in 2014 over multimillion-dollar cash-for-favours scandal involving former chief secretary Rafael Hui
  • Son arrives to pick up 67-year-old at Stanley Prison with milk tea and pineapple bun

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Kwok was released early on Thursday morning. Photo: Sam Tsang

Property mogul Thomas Kwok Ping-kwong walked out of Hong Kong’s maximum-security Stanley Prison on Thursday morning, having served most of a five-year jail term for bribing the city’s former No 2 government official.

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The 67-year-old’s son, Adam Kwok Kai-fai, was there to meet him as he walked free. He had with him a pineapple bun and milk tea, he said, the traditional Hong Kong treats being the first things his father wanted to eat and drink outside prison. The mogul’s daughter, Noelle Kwok, and his younger brother Raymond Kwok Ping-luen were also there.

Wearing a black suit and a red tie, and with his hair greyed from its former thick black, Kwok was already waving at his family as he approached the prison gates. After crossing the threshold, he hugged his relatives.

Kwok was jailed in 2014 over a multimillion-dollar cash-for-favours scandal involving Rafael Hui Si-yan, Hong Kong’s chief secretary between 2005 and 2007. Hui, also convicted on corruption charges, is serving a 7½-year jail term at the same prison.

Thomas Kwok hugs his daughter Noelle, upon his release. Photo: Dickson Lee
Thomas Kwok hugs his daughter Noelle, upon his release. Photo: Dickson Lee
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Kwok, former joint chairman of Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP) – one of Hong Kong’s biggest landlords – served two-thirds of his sentence, receiving time off for good behaviour.
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