香港富豪刘銮雄行贿澳门官员罪名成立

A billionaire Hong Kong property developer was found guilty on Friday by a Macau court on charges of bribery and money-laundering linked to a land deal in the world's gambling capital.

澳门法院周五宣判亿万富翁、香港房地产开发商刘銮雄(Joseph Lau)行贿、洗钱罪名成立。刘銮雄涉案罪名与在澳门的一宗土地交易有关。

Joseph Lau, the tycoon at the helm of Chinese Estates Holdings Ltd., became the second high-profile Hong Kong resident in as many weeks to be found guilty of laundering money in the Chinese casino haven.

刘銮雄执掌着华人置业集团有限公司(Chinese Estates (Holdings) Ltd., 简称：华人置业)，是几周以来被判在澳门洗钱的第二位香港名人。

Macau's Court of First Instance sentenced both Mr. Lau and fellow Hong Kong businessman Steven Lo to five years and three months in prison, ruling that they bribed a former Macau official to get coveted land near Macau's Cotai area, where casino developers are spending billions of dollars on flashy new resorts.

澳门一审法院判处刘銮雄和香港商人罗杰承(Steven Lo)五年零三个月监禁，二人涉嫌行贿前澳门官员以获得澳门路氹城附近的地块。赌场开发商在这个地段重金修建豪华度假村。

Both men pleaded not guilty and neither was in court to hear the verdict. Neither could be reached for comment.

刘銮雄和罗杰承两人都不认罪，也都未出席庭审。记者未能联系到两人置评。

Mr. Lau's lawyer, Luis Mesquita de Melo, said he had already appealed the judgment and that his team was 'not able to completely understand the factual and legal grounds for the decision.' Mr. Lo's lawyer didn't immediately return requests for comment.

刘銮雄律师明路义(Luis Mesquita de Melo)说，他已经提出上诉，他的团队无法完全理解上述判决的事实和法律根据。罗杰承的律师没有立即回覆记者的置评请求。

Mr. Melo said his appeal would suspend the Macau court's judgment for now. But even if the Hong Kong-based defendants are found guilty on appeal, it is unclear how Macau authorities could enforce their judgment because there is no extradition agreement between the two special administrative regions of China.

明路义说，他的上诉将暂缓澳门法院的判决。但即便刘銮雄上诉仍被判有罪，澳门政府如何执行判决还是个未知数，因为澳门与香港这两个中国特别行政区之间没有引渡协议。

The prosecutor's office in Macau didn't immediately return a request for comment on the proceedings.

澳门检察院没有立刻回复记者的置评请求。

Trading of shares of Chinese Estates was suspended on the Hong Kong stock exchange Friday afternoon ahead of the verdict. The company didn't immediately return a request for comment.

周五下午，华人置业在香港交易所上市的股票在法院宣判前停牌。该公司没有立即回应记者的置评请求。

The verdict comes after Birmingham City Football Club owner and Macau gambling investor Carson Yeung was sentenced on March 7 in an unrelated case to six years in prison by a Hong Kong court. He was found guilty of five counts of money-laundering involving 721.3 million Hong Kong dollars (US$92.9 million).

在澳门法院对刘銮雄宣判前，在另外一起不相关的案件中，伯明翰城足球俱乐部(Birmingham City Football Club)老板、澳门博彩业投资人杨家诚(Carson Yeung)则在3月7日被香港一家法院判处六年监禁。杨家诚被认定五项洗钱罪名成立，涉案金额达7.213亿港元（约合9,290万美元）。

Mr. Yeung had pleaded not guilty, testifying that the assets had come from his hair-salon business, share trading, investments in real estate and gambling in Macau, as well as from casino winnings. The judge said he didn't believe Mr. Yeung's explanations.

杨家诚曾否认对他的指控，辩称其资产来自发廊、股票交易、房地产投资和澳门博彩的收入以及赌场上赢来的钱。但法官说，他不相信杨家诚的解释。

In the latest case, prosecutors accused Messrs. Lau and Lo of laundering money and offering former Macau government official Ao Man Long HK$20 million to win a government tender for five plots of land totaling 78,000 square meters near Macau's airport. Mr. Ao, Macau's former secretary for transportation and public works, was convicted in a landmark corruption case in 2008 and is serving a 29-year prison sentence for accepting bribes to approve projects.

在刘銮雄的案件中，检方指控刘銮雄和罗杰承洗钱并向澳门前官员欧文龙行贿2,000万港元，以便在澳门机场附近五幅地块的政府招标中胜出。这五幅地块的总面积达7.8万平方米。澳门前运输工务司司长欧文龙在2008年的一起重大腐败案件中被认定有罪，并因在项目审批中受贿被判处29年监禁，目前正在服刑。

Chinese Estates was building a luxury housing complex on the land called La Scala, named after the opera house in Milan, Italy. The Macau government has already revoked some land rights in connection with the project.

华人置业曾在上述地块推出名为斯卡拉(La Scala)的豪华住宅项目，与意大利米兰的一家歌剧院同名。目前澳门政府已收回部分与该项目有关的土地权。

Chinese Estates' Mr. Lau, 62 years old, is among Hong Kong's richest men with a net worth of $8.4 billion, according to Forbes magazine. Hong Kong's tabloids frequently report on his lavish lifestyle and appearances with his girlfriends.

据《福布斯》(Forbes)杂志称，现年62岁的刘銮雄是香港最富有的商人之一，净资产达84亿美元。香港小报经常会报道刘銮雄的奢侈生活及其与女友外出的消息。