Former aide to head of Hong Kong’s largest pro-Beijing party convicted of bribing in 2018 Legco by-election
- Ex-assistant and accomplice found to have offered ‘lucky bags’ to residents to induce them to vote for Vincent Cheng
- Other co-defendants accused of taking bribes are acquitted after judge notes their acceptance may have been ‘perfunctory’
A West Kowloon Court magistrate ruled on Thursday that defendant Wong Wai-ha had offered “lucky bags” to residents of a public housing estate in Sham Shui Po in an attempt to induce them to vote for candidate Vincent Cheng Wing-shun, who was representing the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) in a March 11, 2018 poll.
Wong, who was an assistant of DAB chairwoman Starry Lee Wai-king at the time of the offence, was convicted along with her co-defendant, housewife Deng Yimei, of conspiring to offer an advantage to others at an election.
Two other defendants accused of receiving bribes to vote for Cheng in the Kowloon West race were acquitted after the presiding magistrate found there was no evidence indicating what the gifts were, and allowed the pair’s acceptance of the offer might have been “perfunctory”.
Wong and Deng, aged 54 and 44 respectively, were volunteers for a residents’ group at the Hoi Lai Estate, where the bribery occurred. The two acquitted defendants, Chan Wai-kuen and Li Mau, both 52, were residents of the estate.
