Commission Against Corruption, Macao SAR

In the course of the investigation into a bribery case, the CCAC discovered that a former leader of the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) allegedly received advantages of high value from businesspersons personally and through his relative and abused his power by illicitly approving some applications for construction works permit during his tenure.

The investigation of the case revealed that during his tenure, the former leader of the DSSOPT, knowing that the street alignment plan of a construction project had already expired, still allowed application of the expired street alignment plan to the construction project, so that the project did not need to be subject to discussion by the Urban Planning Committee. At the same time, although the former leader knew that the construction project went against the provisions under the relevant architectural administrative instructions, he still allegedly instructed his subordinates to approve the construction project, so that the application was finally approved.

The CCAC also found in the investigation that a businessperson involved allegedly assisted a relative of the former leader to falsely buy a share in a subsidiary of his group in the name of investment of the company, through which the relative applied for residency by major investment to the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute, and the application was eventually approved.

Moreover, it was found that the former leader allegedly received advantage of high value from another businessperson in return for bypassing the statutory procedures and speeding up the inspection and acceptance of the relevant construction works. Finally, the use licence was issued just before the expiry of the land use period.

The former leader was also suspected of requesting his subordinates to give favourable opinions in the analysis in the process of the vetting and approval of a combined land development project so that the developer was awarded the land concession and subsequently gained massive profit by selling it at a high price.

The former leader has allegedly committed passive bribery to perform illicit acts, money laundering and document forgery, while the businesspersons and individuals involved have allegedly committed active bribery, money laundering and document forgery.

The action taken by the CCAC was fully supported by the police departments of the Chinese mainland and the Judiciary Police of Macao. The former managed to intercept the former leader of the DSSOPT, who has fled to and settled in the Chinese mainland, and handed over him to the CCAC for investigation through the latter. The case has been referred to the Public Prosecutions Office for subsequent actions.