Former TVB General Manager Stephen Chan Convicted of Corruption
The corruption case of former TVB General Manager Stephen Chan (陳志雲) saw fresh updates this week.
In 2010, Stephen and his personal assistant Cong Pei Kun (叢培崑) were arrested by the Independent Commission against Corruption in Hong Kong for allegedly having established a shell company to which TVB would award production contracts. He was said to have personally profited about $1.5 million USD from the entire scheme. Stephen and his assistant were tried in court in 2011 and acquitted.
The prosecution appealed the acquittal but failed, and recently appealed a second time. This time, the court allowed the prosecution’s appeal and held that Stephen’s defense was without any factual or legal basis. Among other things, the court also held that the judge below had neglected to examine the links between Stephen’s purported salary–such as from his hosting of Be My Guest <志雲飯局> in 2009–and TVB’s financial situation. The court thus convicted Stephen and his assistant on the corruption charges and made an order for a sentencing hearing to take place.
Wong He Accompanies Stephen Chan at Hearing
At the appeal hearing, Stephen’s closest friends turned up to support him, including pastor Enoch Lam (林以諾) and Wong He (王喜). As Stephen and Wong He walked into the courtroom at about 9 a.m., both dressed smartly in suits, they appeared to be in pleasant spirits. As expected, a horde of reporters had already gathered by the court entrance and asked Stephen how he was feeling. Stephen gave a slight smile but did not say anything. Stephen’s assistant was also sighted entering the court, but he did not stop to greet Stephen or Wong He.
Inside the courtroom, Stephen and his assistant both put on face masks and sat on either side of Wong He. They maintained no communication or eye contact, although Stephen would occasionally whisper into Wong He’s ear. Stephen appeared calm throughout the hearing, even when the judge announced his decision to allow the prosecution’s appeal, and convict both Stephen and his assistant.
The judge also granted Stephen and his assistant bail on the same conditions as before: $10,000 HKD in cash as well as a prohibition from leaving Hong Kong. The two will have to attend court again on November 13.
Stephen and the rest of his group, including his assistant, lawyer, and Wong He, then left for lunch at the Marriott Hotel. In response to a reporter’s queries about his thoughts regarding the conviction, Stephen once again did not say much and initially tried to direct Wong He to answer on his behalf, but subsequently laughed and said that Wong He’s views are not representative of his own. Stephen’s defense counsel eventually expressed that given the complex nature of the case, they would be taking their time to review the judge’s grounds for decision before deciding whether to appeal the conviction.
Source: ihktv.com
This article is written by Jingles for JayneStars.com.
He seems relaxed in the face of possible imprisonment.
@funnlim Perhaps because his defense counsel will most likely appeal the decision, which means he possibly won’t have to go to jail, at least for a long while?
Seems like the courts have been working in overdrive mode recently with regard to the pending cases related to the TV industry. There’s this case involving TVB and Stephen Chan, HKTV’s 2 judicial review cases involving the license decision and broadcasting platform issue, the multiple lawsuits against ATV for failing to pay employee wages — all had decisions handed down recently (or, in the case of ATV and Ip Kar Bo, decision is imminent). Either the HK courts have all of a sudden become efficient or something else is going on….
@llwy12 It is rather coincidental to have all three pending cases done at the same time.
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@freedalas
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