Rafael Hui, Thomas Kwok enter Hong Kong's Stanley Prison for the long haul
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 28 December, 2014, 1:03am
UPDATED : Sunday, 28 December, 2014, 1:32am
Bryan Harris and Peter So
Thomas Kwok's son Adam Kwok visited. Photo: Edward Wong
Disgraced former top government official Rafael Hui Si-yan and fallen property tycoon Thomas Kwok Ping-kwong began serving true prison time yesterday as details of their first week behind bars emerged.
The pair, who were sentenced to prison last week with their two co-accused for their part in Hong Kong's biggest-ever corruption case, left Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre - an institution for remand inmates and those awaiting sentence - for maximum security Stanley Prison in a Correctional Services bus shortly after 9am yesterday.
Former government No 2 Hui, 66, was sentenced to seven and a half years and Kwok, 63, a former co-chairman of Sun Hung Kai Properties - one of the world's biggest property development companies - to five years for their parts in the graft scandal.
Shortly after the pair - along with fellow inmates convicted in connection with the case, Kwok aide Thomas Chan Kui-yuen, 68, and former stock exchange official Francis Kwan Hung-sang, 64 - arrived at the prison, the property tycoon's son and daughter arrived for a visit.
Sources have revealed to the Sunday Morning Post details of Hui and Kwok's first seven days in jail that suggest while prison authorities are taking a measured line with the high-profile inmates, certain privileges have been afforded to them.
