Hong Kong tycoon Thomas Kwok jailed for five years for graft

In this photo taken through a tinted glass, Thomas Kwok, right, co-chairman of Hong Kong developer Sun Hung Kai Properties, and Sun Hung Kai Properties Executive Director Thomas Chan Kui-yuen, left, are escorted by a staff member from Hong Kong Correctional Services inside a van outside the High Court in Hong Kong, Friday, Dec. 19, 2014. AP

HONG, KONG, China – Hong Kong property tycoon Thomas Kwok was jailed for five years Tuesday over payments made to a senior government official in a blockbuster case that has shocked the city.

Kwok, 63, who was joint chairman of Hong Kong’s biggest property company, Sun Hung Kai, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office over a series of payments totalling HK$8.5 million (US$1.1 million) to former government number two Rafael Hui.

Judge Andrew Macrae said he had no doubt that Kwok was “at heart a good man.”

He said he had considered a maximum sentence of six years, but handed down one year less to account for Kwok’s good character.

Hui, 66, is also facing a prison term after being found guilty on five of the eight charges against him.

“One is dealing with otherwise decent men who are not young, but who have committed serious offences,” Macrae said before sentencing, adding that going to prison would be a “particular hardship” for the defendants.

The seven-month trial centered around a total of HK$34 million ($4.38 million) in payments which the prosecution said were made to Hui by Thomas and his billionaire brother Raymond to be their “eyes and ears” in government.

Raymond was cleared of all charges and Thomas cleared of two out of the three against him.