What impact will Patrick Ho corruption case have on Chinese companies doing business in the US?
- Former Hong Kong minister was found guilty on seven counts after being charged under tough anti-corruption laws
- Details of how China conducts business overseas may have been most revealing part of trial
Former Hong Kong minister Patrick Ho Chi-ping made at least 116 trips to 30 countries in Central and North America, the Middle East and Africa in the three years before his arrest in 2017 for bribery and money laundering involving US$2.9 million.
As the head of a think tank fully funded by Chinese oil giant CEFC China Energy from 2010, he pursued business and promoted what he called “public diplomacy” for China through a global network of contacts.
Some of his trips to Africa, however, are now expected to cost him several years in jail, after he was convicted last Wednesday of bribery and money laundering in New York. Ho, who was arrested in November 2017, is being held on remand until his sentencing on March 14.
His trial tossed up details of big money changing hands and deals struck with high-ranking UN officials, and leaders in Uganda and Chad.
Some observers say the case might result in greater scrutiny of Chinese businesses and think tanks operating in the US. Others say it has given the world a glimpse of the way China has increased its presence and influence in Africa.
Ho, 69, was arrested and prosecuted under the Foreign Corruption Practices Act in the United States after law enforcement agencies discovered him wiring money through New York banks.