Former Hong Kong leader named in Pandora Papers hits back over report claiming he hid wealth from public
- Leung Chun-ying says he followed the law about disclosing his financial interests while chief executive from 2012 to 2017
- Media report claims Leung hid his sale of shares in a Japanese firm and along with city’s first leader, Tung Chee-hwa, used offshore accounts to shield assets from taxes
Former Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying has warned against the “flames of irresponsible journalism” as he hit back at a news outlet that raised questions about his public financial disclosures based on the Pandora Papers, the biggest leak yet of data about tax haven secrecy.
In a series of Facebook posts on Monday, Leung accused Stand News of misrepresenting the facts and being either ignorant of the laws governing what the city leader must disclose about his finances or driven by ulterior motives in deciding to publish the allegations.
The outlet claimed that Leung conducted business through two offshore companies and sold his 30 per cent stake in DTZ Japan for HK$2.3 million in 2015. He was Hong Kong’s chief executive between 2012 and 2017.
Stand News based its claims on information contained in more than 11.9 million confidential financial records leaked by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
But Leung, who has not revealed whether he intends to run again for the top job in March, said the law only required he declare shares that he held directly.
“There is no need to declare any stake, or changes to it, in subsidiary companies,” he said. “[In 2012], I declared my stakes in all companies directly held by me and took the initiative to take the extra step of putting all my stakes in a trust managed by professionals. I declined to exercise my decision-making right as a shareholder in the companies, including the Japanese one.”
