HONG KONG, Jan. 3 (UPI) — Donald Tsang, Hong Kong’s chief executive from 2005 until 2012, has pleaded not guilty to corruption charges related to a luxury apartment in China.

Tsang, 72, pleaded not guilty to three charges of bribery and misconduct. Prosecutors allege Tsang did not declare numerous conflicts of interest, including renting a three-story luxury apartment in Shenzhen from businessman Bill Wong Cho-bau, a shareholder of the Wave Media broadcast company.

Prosecutors allege Tsang approved the company’s license applications. The apartment was later redecorated for free, while Tsang later nominated the apartment’s interior designer, Barrie Ho Chow-lai, for an honor, prosecutors said.

Tsang is the highest-ranking official to ever face a criminal trial in Hong Kong history. The trial will be determined by a panel of nine jurors.

Tsang faces up to 21 years in prison, as each charge carries a maximum prison sentence of seven years. He was initially popular when taking office, promising a “clean and efficient” tenure, but his popularity plummeted amid corruption allegations in his last years in office. </s> Hong Kong former leader pleads not guilty over corruption

Hong Kong's former leader Donald Tsang, who ended his term in disgrace after accepting favours from tycoons, pleaded not guilty to bribery charges Tuesday at his high-profile corruption trial.

Tsang, 72, held the leadership post of chief executive for seven years from 2005 and is the highest-ranking Hong Kong official to face a corruption trial.

Wearing his customary suit and bow-tie, a somber-looking Tsang arrived with his wife at the city's High Court over an hour before the hearing was scheduled to begin Tuesday.

He pleaded "not guilty" to three charges of misconduct and bribery.

The charges are linked to Tsang's failure to disclose his plans to lease a luxury flat in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen from a major investor in a broadcaster -- which at the time was seeking a licence from the Hong Kong government.

Tsang allegedly approved the company's application for the licence, and also failed to declare that an architect he proposed for a government award had been employed as an interior designer on the flat.

He has previously said that he had "every confidence" he would be exonerated.

The trial comes at a time when residents are losing faith in Hong Kong's leaders, as a string of high-profile corruption cases fuel public suspicions over cosy links between authorities and business leaders.

Hong Kong's unpopular current leader Leung Chun-ying also faces allegations of corruption over receiving a reported payment of HK$50 million ($6.5 million) from Australian engineering firm before he took office.

In 2014, Tsang's deputy Rafael Hui was jailed for seven-and-a-half years after being found guilty of taking bribes from Hong Kong property tycoon Thomas Kwok. </s> Former Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang has been sentenced to 20 months in prison for misconduct.

Tsang led Hong Kong from 2005 to 2012 and is the most senior official in the territory ever to stand trial for corruption.

He was found guilty last week of misconduct in public office, in a case related to a luxury flat in China.

In sentencing, Judge Andrew Chan said: "Never in my judicial career have I seen a man fall from so high."

A number of senior former officials in Hong Kong had written letters to the court in defence of Tsang's character.

Tsang was cleared last week of a second count of misconduct, while the jury failed to reach a verdict on a third charge of accepting an advantage.

After sentencing, Tsang was taken from court in handcuffs to the hospital where he has been staying since experiencing chest pain on Monday.

The case has worried a territory that prides itself on its relatively clean reputation.

The trial related to events which took place near the end of his term, between 2010 and 2012.

Prosecutors accused Mr Tsang of inappropriate and undeclared conflicts of interest, including renting a luxury flat in mainland China from the shareholder of a broadcast company whose licence applications he approved. They also alleged the flat was redecorated free of charge and that he later nominated the interior designer for an honour.

The jury found him guilty of misconduct over his failure to disclose the lease of the flat, but dismissed the charge related to the designer and did not reach a verdict on whether he accepted a bribe in the form of the refurbishment.

A career civil servant, Tsang rose through the ranks to become Hong Kong's second chief executive, following Tung Chee-hwa.

His deputy, former Chief Secretary Rafael Hui, was jailed for accepting bribes from a property tycoon in 2014. </s> Hong Kong's former leader Donald Tsang, who ended his term in disgrace after accepting favours from tycoons, pleaded not guilty to bribery charges on Tuesday at his high-profile corruption trial.

Mr Tsang, 72, held the leadership post of chief executive for seven years from 2005 and is the highest-ranking Hong Kong official to face a corruption trial.

Wearing his customary suit and bow-tie, a somber-looking Mr Tsang arrived with his wife at the city's High Court over an hour before the hearing was scheduled to begin on Tuesday.

He pleaded "not guilty" to three charges of misconduct and bribery. </s> The former leader of Hong Kong Donald Tsang has been sentenced to 20 months in jail following a corruption trial.

Tsang, 72, was Hong Kong's chief executive between 2005 and 2012 and is its most senior official to be convicted.

He was found guilty of misconduct for not revealing a conflict of interest after he did not disclose plans to lease a luxury flat from a major investor in a broadcaster, which later got a government licence.

He approved three applications from Wave Media between 2010 and 2012 at a time when he was in talks with the property mogul and Wave stakeholder Bill Wong Cho-bau, over a luxury penthouse.

In mitigation, his defence lawyer Clare Montgomery QC had asked for a suspended sentence and that the "ordeal" of the trial had taken a toll on Tsang's health.

He received more than 40 letters of support from allies and opponents.

"Mr Tsang must now serve the rest of his life out with the knowledge that his reputation has been ruined and his legacy shattered," she said during Monday's mitigation hearing, the South China Morning Post reported.

The Judge Andrew Chan had said he would sentence him to 30 months in jail but reduced it by 10 months because of his contribution to Hong Kong and his good character, the Associated Press reported.

The jury failed to reach a verdict on another bribery charge for which he will face a retrial later in the year. </s> Hong Kong’s former chief executive Donald Tsang, the highest-ranking ex-official to be charged in the city’s history, has been sentenced to 20 months in prison for misconduct in public office.

Mr Tsang (72) “breached the trust of Hong Kong’s people,” High Court Justice Andrew Chan said in sentencing the official who led Hong Kong from 2005 to 2012 and had guided the former Crown colony through a raft of financial shocks over four decades.

“Never in my judicial career have I seen a man falling from such a height,” the judge said when passing sentence.

Mr Tsang failed to disclose a three-storey penthouse apartment in the adjacent city of Shenzhen in China, and also failed to disclose a conflict of interest in negotiating rent for the property with his landlord Bill Wong.

Mr Wong is a major shareholder in Digital Broadcasting Corp., which at the time was applying for a broadcast licence in Hong Kong for the now-defunct Wave Radio.

“Today is a very dark day,” his wife, Selina Tsang, told reporters after the verdict. She said the family would appeal the conviction.

Mr Tsang was found not guilty of failing to disclose his relationship with an interior designer who refurbished the apartment for over €300,000, whom Mr Tsang later supported for a top city honour.

Mr Tsang was a popular chief executive, known in the city for his preference for wearing bow ties and held in high esteem for helping the city come through the Asian financial crisis.

A devout Catholic and daily communicant, Mr Tsang was close to Cardinal Joseph Zen, who was bishop of Hong Kong during Mr Tsang’s term as chief executive, even though they differed publicly on political issues, especially in relation to China.

Many leading figures in the territory had sent letters testifying to Mr Tsang’s character.

Towards the end of his time in office, media reports of sleaze began to surface and there were tales of yacht parties with tycoons and extravagant overseas trips.

The maximum penalty was seven years, and the judge said he had reduced Mr Tsang’s sentence by 10 months because of his record of 40 years of public service.

The jury failed to reach a verdict on a third charge that he accepted a bribe related to the refurbishment and the judge tentatively set a retrial for September.

In one month’s time, a committee of Beijing-friendly political insiders will choose the city’s leader for the next five years.

The jailing of Donald Tsang comes at a time when there are fears that the high degree of autonomy under the “One Country, Two Systems” arrangement left behind by the British after the return to China in 1997 is under threat.

Incidents such as the apparent abduction of booksellers critical of China into mainland custody, as well as the recent disappearance of a Chinese tycoon who later reappeared across the border ‘helping with enquiries’, has raised fears that Hong Kong’s freedom are under threat.

Observers have said the sentence reflects the continued independence of the judiciary in Hong Kong. Earlier this month, seven Hong Kong police were jailed for two years for beating a pro-democracy protester during the Occupy demonstrations.

The case against Mr Tsang was brought against him by the territory’s anti-graft agency, the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

While Hong Kong regularly scores highly as a corruption-free city, the Tsang incident is the latest in a series of scandals about abuse of power among the territory’s elite.

Mr Tsang’s right-hand man, Rafael Hui was sentenced to seven and a half years in jail in late 2014 for receiving bribes from one of Hong Kong’s largest property developers. </s> Hong Kong - Former Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang was sentenced to 20 months in prison on Wednesday after a high-profile corruption trial found him guilty of misconduct during his time at the helm of the city.

Tsang, 72, who held the leadership post of chief executive for seven years from 2005, is the most senior city official ever to be convicted in a criminal trial and the highest ranking one to be put behind bars.

The six-week trial at the High Court came as residents lose faith in Hong Kong's leaders after a string of corruption cases fuel suspicions over links between public officials and business figures.

Tsang was found guilty on Friday of failing to disclose his plans to lease a luxury flat from a major investor in a broadcaster, which was later granted a licence from the government while he was leader.

"Never in my judicial career have I seen a man fallen from so high," judge Andrew Chan said in delivering the sentence.

Tsang's four decades of service to Hong Kong was "indisputable", but his breach of trust was "significant", Chan told the court packed with reporters and Tsang's relatives.

He "deliberately concealed" his dealing and negotiations, the judge said.

The former leader was photographed wearing his trademark bow tie and hand restraints as he was escorted to a prison van ahead of the hearing.

In 2012 he apologised over separate allegations that he had accepted inappropriate gifts from business friends in the form of trips on luxury yachts and private jets.

His former deputy Rafael Hui was jailed for seven-and-a-half years in 2014 after being found guilty of taking bribes from Hong Kong property tycoon Thomas Kwok. </s> Hong Kong's former leader Donald Tsang, who ended his term in disgrace after accepting favours from tycoons, pleaded not guilty to bribery charges Tuesday at his high-profile corruption trial.

Tsang, 72, held the leadership post of chief executive for seven years from 2005 and is the highest-ranking Hong Kong official to face a corruption trial.

The case is set to send shockwaves through a city that has earned a reputation as one of the world's most open and transparent markets.

Wearing his customary suit and bow-tie, a somber-looking Tsang arrived hand-in-hand with his wife at the city's High Court over an hour before the hearing was scheduled to begin Tuesday morning.

He pleaded 'not guilty' to three charges of misconduct and bribery. Each charge carries a maximum jail sentence of seven years.

The charges pertain to the period when Tsang was chief executive.

He is accused of failing to disclose his plans to lease a luxury penthouse in the neighbouring city of Shenzhen from a major investor in a broadcaster - which at the time was seeking a licence from the Hong Kong government.

Tsang allegedly approved the company's application for the licence, and also failed to declare that an architect he proposed for a government award had been employed as an interior designer on the flat.

The hearing is expected to last 20 days.

He has previously said that he had 'every confidence' he would be exonerated.

In 2012 he apologised for separate allegations that he accepted inappropriate gifts from business friends in the form of trips on luxury yachts and private jets.

The trial comes at a time when residents are losing faith in Hong Kong's leaders, as a string of high-profile corruption cases fuel public suspicions over cosy links between authorities and business leaders.

Critics blame the city's method of electing its leader - who is selected by a 1,200-strong electoral committee made up of representatives of special interest groups weighted towards Beijing.

Pro-democracy politician Lam Chuek-ting said: 'I strongly believe that the chief executive has to (maintain) close relations with special interest groups and tycoons.

'It is very dangerous and very difficult to remain independent from those... groups,' said Lam, a former investigator for the Independent Commission Against Corruption, the city's anti-graft agency.

'Tsang's case is just the tip of the iceberg,' he added.

In 2014, Tsang's deputy Rafael Hui was jailed for seven-and-a-half years after being found guilty of taking bribes from Hong Kong property tycoon Thomas Kwok. </s> HONG KONG (AP) - A former leader of Hong Kong has been sentenced to 20 months in prison for corruption over a luxury apartment in mainland China intended for his retirement.

Judge Andrew Chan said Monday that he was going to sentence Donald Tsang to 30 months in jail but took off 10 months because of his good character and contribution to Hong Kong.

Tsang was found guilty last week of one count of misconduct in office and not guilty on a second count.
Former Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang, who is on trial for corruption, pleads not guilty to three charges of bribery and misconduct relating to a penthouse he leased in Shenzhen.