Ao Manlong was elected Macau’s first Minister of Transport and Public Works in 2004 and received a salary of 14 million MOPs. The Anti-Corruption Commission (CCAC) investigated Long’s activities as authorities suspected him of abusing his power, accepting bribes, handing out lucrative public contracts and engaging in money laundering.
Long was arrested in 2006 and convicted in three trials in 2008, 2009 and 2012, during which authorities say Long accumulated assets and cash amounting to 800 million MOPs and concealed most of his money abroad. A long investigation followed, and British authorities recently confirmed that they were in the process of transferring 350 million MOPs to the Macau government.
British authorities seized the illegal funds and sold one of Long’s properties. Long hid $275 million of MOPs in fake accounts in the U.K. and authorities froze and emptied these accounts to transfer all funds back to Macau. Caroline Wilson, the British Consul General in Hong Kong and Macao, held a meeting at the Government House and agreed to meet with Secretary of State for Administration and Justice Sonia Chan to proceed with the remittance.
In a statement, Chan said, “It is well known that enforcing court orders for confiscation of corruption is a difficult area in law enforcement. The return of confiscated assets by the UK Government is an exemplary example of the successful implementation of UNCAC [the United Nations Convention against Corruption]. It has significant implications in terms of money laundering abroad and fighting crime and maintaining justice.” 스포츠토토사이트
The British consul said that once the remittance for the $350 million MOP is completed, it will be entirely at the discretion of the Macau government as to how they want to use the funds. Chan said the government plans to use the funds for Macau people and that the entire amount will be deposited into MSAR’s public funds.
Authorities also questioned the whereabouts of Long’s wife Camilla Chan, who is suspected of hiding in Britain with her two children. She was tried in absentia in Macau and sentenced to up to four years in prison for her involvement in money laundering. Wilson told authorities he did not have any information about Chan’s whereabouts at this time.
The UK set up an international corruption task force at the National Crime Agency earlier this year and, according to Wilson, had a significant impact on investigating international corruption cases.