Ex-Hong Kong Leader Donald Tsang Cleared of Misconduct on Appeal

(Bloomberg) -- Former Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang was cleared of a criminal conviction for misconduct by the city’s highest court, clearing his name of wrongdoing and ending a yearslong legal ordeal that landed him in jail.

Tsang, who served as chief executive from 2005 to 2012, was the financial hub’s first former leader convicted of a criminal charge. He wasn’t present in court Wednesday for the unanimous decision by the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal.

Tsang has already served a reduced 12 months of a 20-month sentence handed down in 2017 on a misconduct charge over his failure to disclose a conflict of interest during negotiations for rent on an apartment whose landlord was applying for a Hong Kong broadcasting license. The appeals court said it wouldn’t call for Tsang to be retried because he had already served time for the offense.

“My heart is filled with gratitude,” Hong Kong broadcaster Cable News reported him as saying in a recorded voice statement issued after the judgement.

Tsang’s downfall was stunning for an official who had been praised for his stewardship of the economy during the Asian financial crisis, leading a $15 billion defense of the Hong Kong dollar. Tsang, who joined the colonial government in 1967, rose to financial secretary under the last British governor and was knighted for his service.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption’s case against Tsang revolved around whether he failed to disclose the apartment between 2010 and 2012. The rental deal for the three-story apartment in the adjacent Chinese city of Shenzhen involved Bill Wong, a major shareholder in Digital Broadcasting Corp., according to prosecutors at the time.

The court’s decision comes as the current chief executive, Carrie Lam, faces historic mass protests calling for her resignation over controversial legislation that would allow extraditions to mainland China.

To contact the reporter on this story: Natalie Lung in Hong Kong at flung6@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Karen Leigh

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