Ao Man-long stood trial in Macau on 5 November 2007, The prosecution charged Ao with having received millions of dollars in
kickbacks for contracts, including those for the dome constructed for the
2005 East Asian Games,
the Venetian and the
Galaxy StarWorld Hotel, from Ho Meng-fai, Chairman of San Meng Fai Engineering and Construction Company. During the trial, 7 witnesses, including Ho, went missing. Ao allegedly set up
shell companies a network of secret bank accounts in Hong Kong and the
British Virgin Islands with the help of friends and family members to launder bribe money.
Verdict and sentencing On 30 January 2008, Ao was found guilty on 40 counts of bribe-taking, 13 counts of money laundering, two counts of abuse of power, one count of incorrect declaration of assets and one count of holding assets from unknown sources; Ao was sentenced to 27 years in prison. About MOP 252 million of his assets in Macau were seized. Ao decided not to appeal. There were concerns voiced in the Macau media that Ao was the fall-guy, as most Macanese were sceptical that corruption on such a scale could take place without anyone else knowing or being involved. During his trial, Ao hinted that contacts valued at in excess of 6 million Patacas required the approval of his superior in government, Edmond Ho. Macau authorities were co-operating with the
ICAC in Hong Kong to retrieve an estimated
HK$637 million (US$81.7 million), which was reportedly deposited in 39 Hong Kong bank accounts in Ao's name and 92 overseas bank accounts opened in the name of his relative-accomplices.
Appeals Ao filed a motion before the Court of Appeal to un-freeze some of his personal bank accounts, on the grounds that those accounts were supposedly not linked to the corruption case, and were the actual accounts for receiving his salary. The motion was denied on 26 September 2008: according to the verdict of his corruption trial, all his money and personal possessions, even if purchased legally, now belonged to Macau. == Second trial ==