Birthday blues for Kwok family matriarch after graft trial overshadows 85th
The corruption conviction of Thomas Kwok - in a trial that acquitted his brother, Raymond - has cast a shadow over their mother's 85th
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 21 December, 2014, 4:26am
UPDATED : Sunday, 21 December, 2014, 9:52am
Peggy Sito and Stuart Lau
Kwong Siu-hing (top), the Kwok family matriarch, and the three Kwok sons (clockwise from right) Thomas, Walter and Raymond. Illustration: Henry WongIt is the most anticipated date on the calendar for the inner circle at Sun Hung Kai Properties. But executives of the property giant - and a sprinkling of corporate heavyweights and industry watchers - are still guessing when the 85th birthday of the Kwok family's matriarch, Kwong Siu-hing, will be celebrated.
"Every year, we were informed of the date of the party in November and the party would usually be held this month," an SHKP executive said on condition of anonymity. "But so far we have not heard any news."
Another executive added: "It is rumoured that the banquet may be held early next month, closer to her birthday. But by that time, will her three sons come together to greet her - like they did last year?"
It is understood that Kwong's birthday is in early January, but the timing of the big bash this year is a little tricky - not only because of the usual crush of Christmas corporate events.
Casting a shadow on the annual do is the biggest corruption case in Hong Kong's history. Kwong's second son, SHKP co-chairman Thomas Kwok Ping-kwong, was convicted on Friday for his part in the scandal involving former chief secretary Rafael Hui Si-yan, the highest-ranking former Hong Kong official ever to be found guilty of corruption. Thomas Kwok was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office. Kwong's third son, Raymond Kwok Ping-luen, was acquitted.
Kwong's eldest son, Walter Kwok Ping-sheung, had earlier come under an Independent Commission Against Corruption investigation for more than a year, but was deemed not to have been involved in the sorry saga.
Still, Walter Kwok found his name dragged into the marathon High Court trial, as the defence tried to explain away payments to Hui behind Kwok's back.
In 1997, Walter Kwok was abducted by a notorious gangster and set free six days later after the payment of a ransom, reportedly in the millions. The episode that gripped the city was re-told in court, as was a boardroom coup within the family that unseated him in 2008, to justify hiding the payments from an SHKP chairman who had been scarred by the kidnap ordeal.
Yet lead prosecutor David Perry QC called him "a responsible chairman", adding: "Walter Kwok's character … has been unfairly vilified [by his siblings]."
David Perry QC says Walter Kwok's character has been unfairly vilified [by his siblings].
The testimony that spilled out about the band of brothers over the course of the 131-day trial reignited the public's memories of a sensational family feud that spanned five long years, ending only in January, a month after Kwong's 84th birthday party.
At that banquet, Walter Kwok sat next to Kwong on stage, taking his rightful place as her firstborn child, to toast the guests. His appearance was seen as a sign that Kwong's three sons had called a timeout on their bitter battle.
The following month, the Kwoks announced they had forged "an amicable agreement regarding the treatment of the family's interests" that control the HK$315.33 billion SHKP empire - the city's biggest property developer by market capitalisation. Walter Kwok and his immediate family received the same entitlement to SHKP shares as his brothers and their families.
However, the settlement required him to resign as a non-executive director of SHKP and of its technology arm, SuneVision.
While he no longer held any SHKP post, "he is still using his office" next to Thomas Kwok's at the Sun Hung Kai Centre, the court heard.
With the agreement, Walter Kwok recovered the loss of a one-third stake in the family trust he suffered in October 2010, when Kwong removed him as a beneficiary. He had fumed at being ousted from SHKP and fought to regain control of the company and his stake in the trust. Reliable sources in 2012 told the South China Morning Post that the ICAC spoke to him prior to his brothers' arrests that March, though the nature, content and timing of the meetings were unclear.
However, other well-placed sources close to the investigation said the estranged sibling was not the catalyst for their arrests. He himself was arrested that May and placed on bail for more than a year before being cleared the following October.
Barely had the dust settled on the family fallout when Walter Kwok found himself hauled back into the limelight as, in Perry's words, a "scapegoat" to support his brothers' denial that the transfer of millions of dollars to Hui were bribes.
According to Thomas Kwok, he privately paid Hui HK$15 million a year for consultancy services - instead of the HK$4.5 million Walter Kwok had approved - because of his brother's post-kidnap psychological problems.
The changed man had a great effect on the family, Thomas Kwok said in court.
"He was frightened because ['Big Spender' abductor] Cheung Tsz-keung was still making phone calls to Wendy [his wife] and him. He was very worried about his own safety; he was very withdrawn. He did not allow us to talk about his kidnap. He wanted to forget about the matter."
Walter Kwok was "always in hesitation, failed to focus during meetings and slept during meetings", Thomas Kwok said. "I now know he was suffering from what we call post-traumatic stress disorder. He seldom went out and met others. He seldom talked."
Walter Kwok has declined to comment on the court case or his unstable mental state that was alleged in open court.
Yet back when the ugly family fight erupted more than six years ago, he had repeatedly denied rumours of mental illness and insisted he was capable of continuing as SHKP chairman.
At the time, sources close to the Kwoks were suggesting his emotional health was worsening after his release from captivity.
He found a ready and understanding listener in a close female friend, Ida Tong Kam-hing, Thomas Kwok testified.
Tong, whom Walter Kwok had known since 1993, was cited as the thorn in the family's side and the reason his ties with them soured. Reports indicated Kwong was worried the family's interests would be damaged by Tong's influence on her son while he was allegedly suffering mentally.
"My mama did not like [Tong]," Thomas Kwok told the trial. "I learned from my mother that this lady gossiped about our company's matters and things about Raymond and me."
Eventually, the matriarch made the decision to sideline her firstborn in February 2008, demoting him to non-executive director and replacing him as chairman. She stepped down in 2011 in favour of his brothers.
Mama's birthday party may or may not take place this year. But whatever the fallout from the case, Walter Kwok remains very much in the family's same line of business; he has set up his own real estate business in Hong Kong and on the mainland following his exit from SHKP.
