Rafael Hui's links with 'godfather of nightclubs' likely formed at racetrack
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 21 December, 2014, 4:26am
UPDATED : Sunday, 21 December, 2014, 4:26am
Enoch Yiu [email protected]
Rafael Hui's wife Teresa Lo visits him at Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre.Photo: Bruce Yan
A shared interest in horse racing brought together the well-known owner of one of the world's top luxurious Japanese-themed nightclubs and the man who was to become the government's No 2 official.
It surprised many in the High Court when Law Cheuk, "godfather of nightclubs", was said to have given Rafael Hui Si-yan HK$3 million in June 2005 for rent payments, just 10 days before Hui became chief secretary.
"Both Law and Hui are very devoted to horse racing," said Apollo Ng Shung, president of the Racehorse Owners Association. "They were both horse owners and attended horse races all the time. This might have led them to become friends."
Hui was convicted on Friday of five counts that included accepting bribes and inducements totalling HK$19.682 million while serving as chief secretary and Executive Council member. Of that sum, HK$8.5 million was paid by Sun Hung Kai Properties co-chairman Thomas Kwok Ping-kwong in 2005 via SHKP executive director Thomas Chan Kui-yuen and Hui's friend Francis Kwan Hung-sang, while the remaining HK$11.182 million was from Chan and Kwan in 2007.
Hui was also found guilty of three charges of misconduct in public office between 2000 and 2007, for failing to tell the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority and later the government about financial benefits amounting to HK$16.582 million. He kept quiet about unsecured loans granted by the property giant and lived rent-free in two upscale flats at The Leighton Hill, Happy Valley.
The court heard that no rent was initially charged when he moved in in February 2003, and the accommodation later became part of a remuneration package for his job as SHKP consultant from March 2004 to March 2005.
From July 2005, the developer started to collect HK$160,000 a month from the chief secretary, Independent Commission Against Corruption investigator Hazel Law Pui-man told the trial. And 18 months of rent was settled using Law's cheque, she said.
Prosecutors said the sum was irrelevant to Hui's corruption case, as it was a "commission" and a "reward" to thank him for introducing a friend at China Citic Bank so Law Cheuk could borrow HK$550 million.
But the defence argued the sum was material proof of Hui having used money from Law to offset his rent while in office - and not from an accused bribe-giver, SHKP's Raymond Kwok Ping-luen, who is now acquitted.
Law Cheuk might pay HK$7m for a racehorse.
Law Cheuk is known to the Hong Kong public as the "godfather of nightclubs", having been the majority shareholder and managing director of the now-defunct Club BBoss, which thrived during the economic boom of the 1980s and '90s.
The 28-year-old club was a Tsim Sha Tsui East landmark, occupying 70,000 sq ft in New Mandarin Plaza with a dance floor big enough for 400 revellers. At its peak, it lined up for clients Rolls-Royces and more than 1,000 local hostesses fluent in English and Japanese who provided "hourly conversation services".
Law was a very shrewd businessman and tried to list his nightclub on the stock exchange, said Chim Pui-chung, a former legislator representing brokers.
"However, some opposed the listing because of its business nature," Chim said. "Then the stock market crashed in October 1987 and the listing plan did not go ahead.
"But Law's nightclub business thrived for many years after. It was only in recent years, when Macau had more casino and entertainment venues, that its business was hurt."
Law closed Club BBoss in July 2012 and leased the property for HK$1.5 million a month to a duty-free shop that is now routinely surrounded by mainland visitors.
He remains very active and appears at all horse-racing events, according to Ng.
"Law is a very hands-on horse owner. He would not ask others to buy a horse for him but would fly to Sydney or New Zealand to select and buy it himself."
Law paid for his horses at HK$4 million to HK$7 million, which was at the upper end of the market but below the HK$10 million price tag international award-winning horses commanded, Ng said.
"Law is very friendly to everyone he meets at the horse-racing scene. He always carries a smile and is kind to almost everyone."
That would include his friend, Hui, who used to be a steward of the Jockey Club.
Hui owned several horses, which won HK$6.5 million with 11 victories from 1996 to 2011.
His horses were each priced at HK$2 million or above, some co-owned with friends including former Monetary Authority chief executive Joseph Yam Chi-kwong and former chief secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen. But all were sold before the ICAC arrested him in 2012.
During his trial, Hui admitted that, on a bad day, he could rack up betting losses of up to HK$20,000.
That was on top of forking out HK$20,000 to HK$60,000 per month on carrots, barns and other expenses in horse maintenance, the court heard.
"Now the [minimum] cost of raising a horse is even higher, at about HK$40,000 per month for medical care, food and other supplements," Ng said.
That no longer applies to Hui, as his insolvency beginning in November last year means he has lost his Jockey Club membership and cannot be a horse owner.
Additional reporting by Stuart Lau and Alan Aitken
