Mr Cortazzi
Corta
PS
CONFIDENTIAL COVERING SECRET
HKA 412393/4
UNLO
31 MAR 1998
•
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козий
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Prepared ляза
عليه ها
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Look at the fiber
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1138.
86029/3/76
HONG KONG: CORRUPTION
1.
No
In his telegram no. 8 the
مليات
A
Ternor of Hong Kong drew
attention to the investigation into the so-called Yau Ma Tei syndicate of corrupt officers within the Royal Hong Kong Police Force.
In
FCO telegram no. 99 the Secretary of State indicated that because of the massive danger presented by the existence of corrupt syndicates within the Service, he was, exceptionally, prepared to consider sympathetically recommendations for the discharge of officers suspected of corruption in the Hong Kong Public Service, by the use of Colonial Regulation 55. By this regulation the pleasure of the Crown that an officer should no longer hold office may be signified the Secretary of State, and no special formalities are required, i.e. there is no need for the grounds for discharge to be put to the officer in detail and there is no provision for him to rebut the
grounds.
3.
2. The Governor of Hong Kong has now submitted 14% case files to the FCO with a recommendation that the Secretary of State should signify, under CR55, that the officers should no longer hold office. These files are in respect of police or preventive service officers, all of whom are believed to have been involved in corruptly receiving payments in order to permit the continued existence of a heroin distribution network in the Yau Ma Tei police district of Hong Kong.
Mr Thompson of my department has scrutinised each of these files and has made recommendations to me. I have scrutinised each file myself and have considered that in cases (List A attached), on the material in the files concerned, I am satisfied that there are sufficient grounds for suspecting that the officers concerned have been involved in corrupt activity for it not to be in the public interest for them to remain in the service of the Government of Hong Kong. The Departmental Legal Adviser, who has also scrutinised each of the files, concurs. The Overseas Police Adviser who is away from London has seen random samples of these files and has agreed
8'
33A
CONFIDENTIAL
COVERING
SECRET