Hong Kong's former development secretary charged with fraud

HONG KONG (REUTERS) - Hong Kong's anti-graft agency charged a former development secretary over an alleged housing fraud involving HK$700,000 (S$110,000) on Wednesday, in the latest blow to the city's new leader who has vowed to restore confidence in the government after a series of scandals.

Mak Chai-kwong, who quit in mid-July barely two weeks after he was appointed, was charged along with Tsang King-man, assistant director of the highways department, over counts of conspiracy to defraud the Hong Kong government between 1985 and 1990, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) said.

The two men concealed that they each had a financial interest in the flat they had leased from each other's wives, the anti-graft agency said.

Mak declined to comment after he appeared at the headquarters of the ICAC, local media reported.