The former head of IPIM, Jackson Chang, has been handed a five-year effective prison sentence by the Court of First Instance (TJB) today (Friday) in a repeat trial for charges of money laundering, passive corruption and abuse of power.
Chang’s daughter, Chang Sin Man was acquitted of all her charges – as had happened in the first trial – but businessman Ng Kuok Sao was handed a 23-year prison sentence for crimes of money laundering, active corruption, criminal association and falsification of documents.
The court considered that the businessman was the head of the criminal group that bribed the former IPIM head for confidential information that could assist in obtaining residence permits in the city via the department.
In the first trial, Sao had been found guilty of criminal association, and producing fake documents, among other charges and was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Ng – who faced both trials in absentia – was captured in Mainland China last month and handed over to the Macau authorities and was present during the sentencing hearing today.
Ng’s wife, Wu Shu Wa, had been sentenced to a 12-year prison term in the first trial as she was considered by the court as part of the same criminal enterprise.
Zeng Chunmei, the alleged mistress of Jackson Chang, was also handed a 1 year 6 months prison sentence suspended for two years for money laundering charges.
The presiding judge considered that Chang made use of his position as a high official in IPIM to provide confidential information concerning four residence application requests to Ng.
After the sentencing, Chang’s Lawyer, Álvaro Rodrigues, immediately indicated that an appeal would be submitted, with the court also accepting a request by the defence for an extension of the period for appeal to 40 days, since the sentencing was issued only in Chinese.
Ng’s lawyer, Pedro Leal also indicated to Macau News Agency that his client intends to appeal his sentence.
After the decision, the Public Prosecutions Office requested for the presiding judge to place Chang under detainment, claiming there was a risk of flight by the former IPIM head.
The request was, however, denied by the judge after a rebuttal by Chang’s defence, who indicated the defendant had already previously been held in pre-trial detention for almost one year for criminal organisation charges he was later acquitted of.
Rodrigues also noted that after that Chang has remained in freedom of the SAR with only a periodical report requirement to police authorities without leaving the city and attending all court sessions.
Deja-vu
In 2021, the former IPIM head faced charges of four crimes of passive corruption for illicit acts, six of money laundering, three of abuse of power, three of inaccuracy in the declaration of income and also of criminal association and violation of secrecy related to the granting of residency status through investment.
The trial ended with the former government official being acquitted of charges of power abuse, corruption and criminal association and handed a two-year jail term for breach of secrecy and inexact asset declaration.
However, following an appeal by the Public Prosecutions Office, the TSI decided to acquit Chang for the crimes of breach of secrecy, maintained the conviction for inaccuracy in the income statement but ordered a retrial at the first instance for the charges of passive corruption, money laundering and abuse of power.
In the re-trial held at the Court of the First Instance, the former IPIM president faces charges of three crimes of passive corruption for illicit acts, money laundering, and abuse of power.
The prosecution had claimed during its closing arguments that the former IPIM president informed businessman and suspect in the case, Ng Kuok Sao about the progress of some temporary residence applications through his daughter Crystal Chang.
Meanwhile, the prosecution argued that the former IPIM President had at least more than MOP800,000 (US$99,092) in cash from unknown sources, an amount suspected to have been provided by Ng Kuok Sao through various channels, including ‘red pockets’ and transferring money through the two other suspects, Zeng Chunmei and Chen Hongxin.
Chang was also suspected of receiving two luxury watches, Rolex and Patek Philippe, with a total value of MOP230,000 from Ng as a bribe to the former IPIM head.
Ng Kuok Sao also allegedly offered Chang’s daughter a position with a salary that did not match her education and a 10 per cent stake in a company, according to the prosecution.
However, the presiding judge indicated that there was no record of any transfer of ownership in the commercial registration documents that could prove these charges.
In statements after the decision, Chang’s defence lawyer indicated that the defence was “confident in further appeals but considered that if the appeal courts uphold this sentence the almost one year of pre-trial detention his client experienced should be considered.
“We were not waiting for this decision so we immediately filed an appeal. It’s different analysts of the same evidence by a different collective of judges. Having a re-trial is almost always bad but were will see what happens in the appeal,” Rodrigues told the media.
