A sweeping investigation by Hong Kong’s anti-corruption watchdog has resulted in the arrests of 24 people, including a well-known lawyer and his son, in connection with a small house development project in the New Territories.

Lawyer Edward Wong, nicknamed the “Small House King,” is among those arrested, sources said, along with his second son Nelson and Yuen Long district councillor Ching Chan-ming.

Those arrested were alleged to be part of a conspiracy to use fraudulent means to acquire small house development rights, commonly known as “ding rights,” according to a statement by the Independent Commission Against Corruption on Friday.

The ICAC investigation revealed that a developer had allegedly engaged middlemen to acquire ding rights from villagers in Hong Kong’s Yuen Long district for amounts reaching hundreds of thousands of dollars, to build a sizable property development project, the commission’s statement said. It added that bribes were allegedly offered or accepted.

Those arrested allegedly made false claims to the Lands Department that the indigenous villagers were the sole registered owners of certain land lots, the statement said.

The case involves someone who was a client of Edward Wong’s legal firm more than 10 years ago, according to a statement made by the firm, Wong and Poon Solicitors. The statement added that the firm was cooperating with the ICAC’s investigation and its operations were continuing as normal.

The statement further accused the media of being “full of inaccuracies and biased remarks” during the previous two years of political turmoil in Hong Kong, adding that the legal firm had also been unreasonably targeted.

Edward Wong’s elder son, Wilson Wong, refused to comment when Apple Daily approached him at a street stall in Yuen Long on Saturday.

The Lands Department said it will offer full assistance to the ICAC during its investigation, but declined to comment further when contacted.

According to the small house policy in place since 1972, male indigenous inhabitants of Hong Kong’s New Territories have the right to apply to build a home in their ancestral village once in their lifetime. Enforcement of the policy has come under frequent criticism for its failure to deter villagers selling these rights to property developers.

Click here for Chinese version

---------------------------------

Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app: bit.ly/2yMMfQE

To download the latest version,

iOS: bit.ly/AD_iOS

Android: bit.ly/AD_android

Or search Appledaily in App Store or Google Play