US appeal court upholds conviction of ex-Hong Kong minister Patrick Ho
- Former home affairs secretary was released earlier this year after finishing his US sentence for bribery and money laundering
- Lawyers for Ho insisted that payments to presidents of Chad and Uganda were legitimate charitable donations
The conviction of former Hong Kong minister Patrick Ho Chi-ping for paying bribes to the presidents of Chad and Uganda in a United Nations-linked conspiracy was upheld Tuesday by an appeal court in New York.
The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled in the case of Ho, finding he was properly convicted by a jury in December 2018 of paying bribes to the African presidents.
Ho’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Ho, 70, who is also an ophthalmologist and was once Hong Kong’s home affairs secretary, was sentenced last year to three years in prison by US District Judge Loretta Preska, who called Ho’s works of charity “extraordinary” and said he deserved leniency.
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Preska noted that Ho restored sight for strangers, brought music to the Metropolitan Correction Centre and tutored inmates who then finished high school.
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Former Hong Kong minister Patrick Ho gets 3-year sentence in US bribery and money laundering case
At sentencing, Ho said he was “deeply sorry” and was grateful to guards and inmates at the Metropolitan Correctional Centre, where he was incarcerated, for keeping him safe.
At trial, prosecutors said his bribes were part of a scheme to secure oil rights for an energy conglomerate known as CEFC China Energy.
They noted that the Ugandan scheme was created in part at the United Nations in New York while Uganda’s foreign minister was president of the UN General Assembly.
Patrick Ho appeals against US conviction for bribery
Lawyers for Ho insisted that payments to the presidents were legitimate charitable donations. The payments included US$2 million in gift boxes delivered to Chad’s president in 2014.
The charges were brought in New York by authorities who cited meetings and wire transfers in Manhattan related to the bribes, including a meeting in a suite at the Trump World Tower.
On appeal, Ho said there was insufficient evidence for a conviction and cited various procedural errors, but a three-judge appeals panel disagreed.
“We conclude that the evidence introduced at trial was more than sufficient,” the 2nd Circuit said in a decision written by Circuit Judge Richard Sullivan.
