Chan Kau Tai

Chen Qiuda, a Hong Kong civil servant, was investigated by the ICAC for corruption. From 2000 to 2001 he was investigated, arrested, and suspended. The case alleged that he took bribes from multiple construction contractors and material suppliers to help them win government contracts, or to give them favorable treatment during supervision of works; he also took early deposits from suppliers to shield him in case of future incidents; and he helped a friend's son obtain a government contract engineering position. The amount involved was about HK$3 million.

The trial began in 2003. The prosecution described him as an “extremely corrupt official”; reports said the ICAC, under the arrangement of the Housing Department's Deputy Director Wu Man-hai, installed wiretaps and cameras in his office to record the counting of bribes. Chen Qiuda was convicted on some counts and sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment. In 2004 he appealed, arguing the investigation was unfair; in 2005 the Court of Appeal ruled the appeal successful, quashing ten bribery counts and remitting the case to the trial court for retrial.

In the trial of four contractors involved in the case, the ICAC called tainted witnesses, and, without a search warrant, stole the defendant’s documents and recorded legal opinions from lawyers, a move thought to violate the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China regarding legal professional privilege. The District Court then ordered a permanent stay of proceedings. The Department of Justice applied for judicial review, and High Court Judge Xia Zhengmin overturned that decision, sending the case back to the District Court for continued hearing; subsequently Chen Qiuda was again sentenced to six years’ imprisonment.

In October 2008, Chen Qiuda was released under supervision. In November he was granted parole for medical treatment and went to Beijing for treatment of liver cancer at Dongzhimen Hospital affiliated with Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, choosing to undergo a liver transplant there. After the transplant his condition gradually improved; eight months later the transplant had taken place and he gradually recovered, and later, at the end of June, he secretly returned to Hong Kong to be with his family. Media reports said his father’s medical and litigation costs were enormous, and rumors suggested his son, renowned singer Eason Chan, funded his father’s medical and litigation expenses, amounting to tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars.

Chen Qiuda’s son is the well-known singer Eason Chan. On June 29, 2009, father and son met at Hong Kong’s railway station; on July 19 in Beijing, at the Worker’s Stadium, Eason Chan held a concert, performing “K歌之王” (King of Karaoke) and dedicating “单车” (Bicycle) to his father in a show of support.