Hong Kong property tycoon Joseph Lau’s appeal against money laundering conviction rejected - while he spends HK$3 billion on a London skyscraper
Billionaire continues to expand property empire with plans to buy £270m London skyscraper despite failing to quash conviction for involvement in HK$20 million bribe-for-land scheme
Macau’s top court has rejected Hong Kong property tycoon Joseph Lau Luen-hung’s appeal against his money laundering conviction in a bribe-for-land scheme involving former Macau public works minister Ao Man-long.
In the previous case, the defendant was eventually released by the court as the maximum penalty for her money laundering charge was less than three years’ jail.
READ MORE: Fugitive tycoon Joseph Lau Luen-hung sells Hong Kong office tower for record HK$12.5bn a day after buying US$48m diamond
Macau’s court of final appeal last Friday dismissed Lau’s appeal as his case was different from the previous one in that Lau’s offence could lead to a jail term of up to eight years, the newspaper reported.
Lau, worth an estimated $14.8million, and fellow Hong Kong businessman Steven Lo Kit-sing were each handed a jail term of five years and three months by a Macau court in 2014 after being convicted of bribery and money laundering.
Seemingly unfazed by his rejected court appeal bid, Lau continues to expand his property empire.