Several of the witnesses heard yesterday in the ongoing corruption case involving the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) supported the prosecutions claims that some of the applicants for Macau residency were people who had never worked for the companies listed on their applications.The high-profile case involves some 26 defendants accused of corruption crimes, the forging documents and making false declarations on applications for residency.In the Court of First Instance session yesterday, testimony was offered by people who used to work in several companies owned by defendant Ng Kuok Sao, who is accused of heading the unlawful scheme to unlawfully obtain residency permits.Among the witnesses were several workers from different departments at the One Kin Construction Company, which is considered to be the headquarters from which the scheme operated. Others worked for smaller companies that were used to hire applicants attempting to obtain the Macau residency through qualified technical or higher management staff programs.All testimonies offered to the court consistently noted that they did not know and had not met the applicants, nor had they heard of the job positions listed in the IPIM applications.The highlight of the session was the testimony of a former staff member at the One Kin Company, Alin Cheang, who worked in the company for just over one year.The name of this individual had been raised on several previous occasions. Documents and messages to Ngs wife, Wu Sok Wah, as well as to another assistant, showed her involvement in processing the cases of at least three of the applicants.In her testimony, Cheang first said that she had not handled any of the cases related to residency. However, she was stopped by Judge Leong Fong Meng who accused her of lying to the court.Leong urged the witness to change her statement and tell the truth, otherwise a criminal case would be filed against her for lying to the court.

Read the original:

Workers say they knew nothing of colleagues used to file IPIM applications - Macau Daily Times