Hong Kong’s former home secretary was sentenced to three years in prison Monday for bribing African officials on behalf of a Chinese energy company.
Patrick Ho, 69, was also ordered to pay a $400,000 fine, the DOJ said.
In December, Ho was found guilty after a one-week trial in the Southern District of New York.
He was convicted by a jury on seven counts — one count of conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, four counts of violating the FCPA, one count of conspiring to commit international money laundering, and one count of committing international money laundering.
The jury acquitted Ho on one money-laundering count. He had denied all eight counts against him.
Ho — Hong Kong’s home affairs secretary from 2002 to 2007 — was in federal custody since his arrest in November 2017. He offered to post a $10 million bond but was denied bail because of the flight risk.
The DOJ said Ho, with help from his co-defendant Cheikh Gadio, offered $2 million in bribes to the president of Chad.
Gadio, 62, is the former foreign minister of Senegal. He acted as a witness for the DOJ under a non-prosecution agreement, evidence at Ho’s trial showed.
Ho also paid a $500,000 bribe to Sam Kutesa, the minister of foreign affairs of Uganda. Kutesa had recently completed his term as the president of the UN General Assembly.
The DOJ said an NGO Ho leads — called the China Energy Fund Committee or CEFC — was used to funnel bribes to the officials in Africa. The NGO is based in Hong Kong and Virginia.
CEFC is fully funded by a Shanghai-based oil and gas company called CEFC China Energy Company Limited.
In April 2018, Ho asked the trial court judge to dismiss some of the FCPA counts against him. He argued that the DOJ shouldn’t be allowed to bring the same charges under alternative theories of jurisdiction. He also asked the court to toss evidence — text messages and emails –– that came from a search of his iPad and cell phone.
Judge Loretta Preska rejected Ho’s motion to dismiss the charges and to exclude the digital evidence.
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Harry Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog.
1 Comment
Patrick Ho is put in jail is what he deserves. Why Sam Kutesa received $500,000 bribe from Patrick Ho can get rid of charge from DOJ, but he was in New York at least in last two years? Is anti-corruption required to consider political so that not to prosecute Sam Kutesa? I don't think justice is seen in this case.
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