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ARTIGOS ALARM BELLS RING AFTER $50M MACAU TRANSFER, Hong Kong Standard, 17/1/00
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By Yu Man-ching in Macau «Hong
Kong Standard» de 17/1/2000 STORY:
MACAU Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau-wah has ordered a charity foundation
to submit an urgent report after a total of 50 million patacas (HK$50
million) was found to have been ``secretly'' transferred to Portugal prior
to the handover last month. The
money was ``appropriated'' from a local foundation - the Macau
Co-operation and Development Foundation - in November 1999, a month ahead
of the handover. The
last Macau governor, General Rocha Vieira, was the president of the
foundation's trustees committee, at the time. The committee draw up a plan
and a budget for the foundation every year. The
administrative committee was pushed hard to approve the appropriation
requests, a foundation source said. ``The
administrative committee has been controlled tightly for approval of
appropriation requests,'' a close source of the MCDF said. ``The
appropriation of 50 million patacas was initially to subsidise a museum in
Portugal to show exhibits about Macau and promote Macau's culture. The
appropriation request was made in September and the funds were transferred
to Portugal in November while Gen Vieira was still the head of Macau as
well as of the foundation. The
then-governor allocated the sum to create a new foundation in Portugal
under the name Foundation Jorge Alvares. The
cost for setting up the foundation was 100 million patacas, half of which
was to be borne by the Macau foundation and the other half by the
Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau, which is controlled by casino
magnate Stanley Ho. According
to the regulations of the new foundation, the Chief Executive of the MSAR
automatically becomes a trustee after stepping down from the office. ``The
MSAR Chief Executive is highly concerned by the transfer of 50 million
patacas from the Macau Co-operation and Development Foundation to the
Foundation Jorge Alvares in Portugal, and has requested the MCDF to submit
a report,'' a spokesman from the Chief Executive's office said. MSAR
Legislative Assembly President Susanna Chou immediately resigned from
Foundation Jorge Alvares as soon as she heard news of the transfer. ``The
former governor had invited me to join the trustees committee of his
foundation in Portugal while emphasising that it was a private operation
without a penny from Macau,'' she said. ``I
immediately offered my resignation when I heard about the transfer of
Macau assets, and phoned Mr Vieira to express my views on this matter,''
Ms Chou said. ``Although
the transfer occurred during the previous administration, and has no
connections with the MSAR Government, an investigation is still needed,''
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