Disgraced former Hong Kong minister Patrick Ho returns to city after serving jail term in New York for African bribery plot
- He flew first to Zurich, where he boarded a Swiss International Air Lines flight bound for the city.
- Former home affairs chief claimed he was the ‘first of sacrificial lambs’ caught in the crosshairs of the US-China trade war
Ho, 70, flew first from New York to Zurich, where he then boarded Swiss International Air Lines flight 138 to Hong Kong, crossing the city’s immigration checkpoint at about 8am on Wednesday.
As with all arrivals, he was required to undergo a mandatory test for the coronavirus, a measure put in place months ago by the Hong Kong government to screen out imported Covid-19 cases.
The ophthalmologist turned politician, who was jailed for 36 months and fined US$400,000 (HK$3.1 million) last year, was deported from the United States after his release because his passport had expired.
The former secretary for home affairs – who claimed he was “the first of the sacrificial lambs” caught up in the US-China trade war – was freed early after counting the 16 months he had spent behind bars before his conviction. His legal team previously said Ho could get a further reduction of five months for good behaviour.
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Former Hong Kong minister Patrick Ho gets 3-year sentence in US bribery and money laundering case
Ho was Hong Kong’s home affairs chief from 2002 to 2007. After his civil service career, he became the deputy secretary general of a think tank funded by the Shanghai-based oil conglomerate CEFC China Energy.
In November 2017, he was arrested at John F Kennedy International Airport in New York.