国产热热热精品,亚洲视频久久】日韩,三级婷婷在线久久,99人妻精品视频,精品九热人人肉肉在线,AV东京热一区二区,91po在线视频观看,久久激情宗合,青青草黄色手机视频

Macao opens largest graft trial

Updated: 2007-11-06 06:57

(HK Edition)

  Print Mail Large Medium  Small

Macao's biggest corruption trial opened yesterday with the court hearing charges that a former top official had taken millions of dollars in kickbacks to speed up construction of the gaming haven's multibillion dollar casinos.

Former secretary for transport and public works Ao Man-long faces 76 counts of corruption, including accepting bribes, laundering money and abuse of power and shining a spotlight on the crime feeding off Macao's boom.

Macao opens largest graft trial 

Security guards check passes outside the court building where the trial of Ao Man-long took place in Macao yesterday. AFP

Ao has not entered a plea in the trial which is expected to involve more than 90 witnesses and last over a month.

Ao is the most senior official to be tried since the former Portuguese enclave returned to the Chinese rule in 1999.

Anti-graft officers and prosecutors said they had evidence he had amassed a fortune of about US$100 million - over 57 times his income over seven years as a top policy secretary - after raids on his home and offices unearthed a web of offshore firms and bank accounts through which he funnelled funds.

The president of Macao's Court of Final Appeal, Sam Hou Fai, told reporters Ao and associates had set up shell companies in the British Virgin Islands and bank accounts in Hong Kong. Cases involving Macao government officials charged with crimes related to their work are heard by the highest court.

Ao offered to use his influence to grease the approval process for local developers and contractors on numerous projects, including one involving the US$2.4 billion Venetian Macao resort, and helped developers snag contracts in open tenders in return for kickbacks, he said.

In past years, Macao has flung its doors open to Las Vegas gaming giants including Wynn Resorts Ltd and the Las Vegas Sands Corp, which built the Venetian Macao, turning it into the world's largest gaming hub.

Some US$24 billion has been earmarked for infrastructure and building the Cotai strip - reclaimed land where casinos, hotels, malls and convention halls are springing up.

Reuters

(HK Edition 11/06/2007 page6)

茌平县| 繁峙县| 大安市| 勃利县| 临海市| 四子王旗| 双城市| 内丘县| 甘孜| 长宁县| 百色市| 双峰县| 木兰县| 张掖市| 噶尔县| 平果县| 永吉县| 靖远县| 浏阳市| 德惠市| 赫章县| 金乡县| 台北市| 江川县| 友谊县| 大姚县| 瑞安市| 扎囊县| 土默特左旗| 祁东县| 荃湾区| 永州市| 福海县| 苍山县| 延安市| 南汇区| 东安县| 甘泉县| 五台县| 嵊州市| 三门峡市|