Gambling Mecca Macau Has Corruption Trial Begin Against Top Official

Billions and billions of dollars have been spent on building luxurious hotel and casino resorts in the city of Macau, so many, in fact, that Macau has become the gambling capital of the World.

On Monday, however, some of the building of these resorts came under scrutiny as a trial began against a former secretary for transport and public works official was ready to begin standing trial for 76 counts of corruption.

The trial focuses around Ao Man-long, the former official who is accused of money laundering, abuse of power, and accepting bribes. The trial could take up to a month as there are over 100 witnesses that are set to be called to the stand.

Ao was said to have taken millions of dollars in kickbacks from developers to help speed up the construction of the city's multi billion dollar casinos.

Prosecutors claim that Ao has accrued over $100 million over a seven year period. That number is nearly 57 times his income as the top policy secretary.

The arrest came as a shock to many in the industry as he was the one that gave the approvals for land sales to the property developers of these lavish casinos.



2007-11-05