Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs Betty Fung Ching Suk-yee was confirmed on leave on Friday and spotted leaving home with luggage and without her wedding ring
CHRISTY.LEUNG@SCMP.COM
UPDATED : Saturday, 09 April, 2016, 8:09pm
Wilson Fung, who is currently the Airport Authority’s executive director for corporate development, was also asked to go on leave from Thursday. Photo: Edward Wong
The husband of the Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs Betty Fung Ching Suk-yee admitted keeping his wife in the dark about his cosy ties with a relative of a Macau tycoon, following conflict of interest allegations against the couple.
Wilson Fung Wing-yip broke his silence by releasing a statement on Facebook on Saturday evening, after his wife was seen leaving home with luggage on Friday morning. Her wedding ring was conspicuously missing from her finger.
“I am deeply sorry for the disturbance the incident has brought to my wife and my family,” the statement read.
Wilson Fung said he had never told his wife about “any of the dealing” between him and Wiseson’s sole owner Cheyenne Chan, who is also the shareholder of Sky Shuttle and the sister of Macau tycoon Stanley Ho Hung-sun’s third wife.
A screengrab from Wilson Fung’s Facebook page. Photo: SCMP Pictures
“Regarding the property transaction, my wife was not aware of the identity of the shareholder of the Hong Kong registered company of the other side before the transaction,” he said.
The post was public at about 6pm but less than two hours later access to it had been changed to friends only, meaning only authorised Facebook users could see it.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption had earlier decided to look into the conflict of interest accusations against Betty Fung, despite her claims of not knowing about the ownership of Wiseson until the saga was exposed recently.
As the director of the leisure department back in November 2013, Betty Fung swapped her One Robinson Place property in Mid-Levels with Wiseson, for the company’s two properties in Happy Valley. She would pay Wiseson HK$6.5 million – about HK$3 million less than the market price.
The Post has seen several property transaction supplemental agreements, dating to 2013, bearing the name and signature of “Fung Wing Yip” on behalf of Wiseson Limited. The signatures are identical to Wilson Fung’s signatures on the annual report of the Hong Kong Productivity Council, which he headed in 2006.
In November 2013, Betty Fung swapped her One Robinson Place property in Mid-Levels for Wiseson’s two properties in Happy Valley, paying about HK$3 million less than the market price. Photo: Felix Wong
Wilson Fung, who is currently the Airport Authority’s executive director for corporate development, was also asked to go on leave from Thursday, according to news portal HK01, though other media reports disputed this.
He was a senior civil servant in the former Economic Development and Labour Bureau in charge of aviation affairs from 2003 to 2006. Sky Shuttle won a franchise to operate services from Sheung Wan to Macau in 2007.
Wilson Fung added in the statement that as relevant authorities had or would soon be investigating into this matter, he would not comment further or respond to any other media reports or enquiries.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1934860/top-civil-servant-betty-fung-property-sale-probe-not-aware
