Defending white collar crime in Hong Kong: a case study of the Lee Ming Tee Case

Abstract

The Lee Ming Tee case, stretching from 1998 to 2004, is the longest and most expensive criminal prosecution in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region thus far. This article examines the strategies employed by the defence to try to delay and abort the prosecution. The strategies are many of the same ones documented by Kenneth Mann in his study of American white collar crime attorneys. The effectiveness or potency of strategies, such as information control, information access and deflecting attention, depends on the underlying rule of law values and institutions of the society where the prosecution occurs. While some may criticize the outcomes and the many detours taken in this case, they nevertheless serve to underline the robustness of Hong Kong's independent judiciary, due process safeguards, and system of jury trials post-1997.