Ao Man Long

Ao Man Long was the first Secretary for Transport and Public Works of the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, from 20 December 1999 through 6 December 2006.

On 8 December 2006, Ao was arrested based on a case built by the Macau Commission Against Corruption, making him the highest-ranking official arrested on corruption charges in the history of Macau. Ao had allegedly offered preference in government works projects, and had amassed assets totalling over US 100 million. On 30 January 2008, Ao was found guilt on 40 charges including abuse of authority, bribery, money laundering and accumulation wealth from unexplained sources and was sentenced to 27 years in prison.

Using a series of shell companies set up in offshore financial centers including the British Virgin Islands, Ao was aided by four family members, who each received sentences between 10 and 18 years for money laundering.

In July 2008, Macau authorities were able to trace much of Ao's money into 39 bank accounts and 2 safety deposit boxes in Hong Kong worth US 57.1 million and 91 accounts in the UK worth US 30.42 million. To recover Ao's assets in Hong Kong, the Macau authorities used civil lawsuit.  On 4 February 2009, the High Court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region filed a default judgment to confiscate Ao's assets.

To date, Ao's remaining assets (US 30.42 million) in the United Kingdom remain frozen.

Additionally, on 19 February 2009, Macau prosecutors also added an additional 19 charges of bribery, five counts of money laundering and four counts of power abuse. However, it is unlikely that his jail sentence will be significantly extended, as the maximum sentence in Macau is 30 years.

UPDATE: On 22 April 2009, Ao Man Long was convicted of 24 new corruption charges, but due to statute of limitation requirements in Macau, it will not significantly extend his prison sentence. However, efforts to confiscate the remainder of Ao's funds continue.