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MACAU, CHINA - THE biggest corruption trial in Macau's history was set to conclude on Wednesday, threatening to expose the murky underworld behind the booming gambling city's gleaming facade.
Ao Man Long, former secretary for transport and public works in the southern Chinese territory, faces 76 graft charges, including bribe-taking, money laundering, abuse of power and unjustified wealth.
The 51-year-old is accused of amassing a personal fortune of more than US$100 million (S$142.8 million) by taking kickbacks for 41 public works projects, including contracts linked to casino construction.
The sum is 57 times his family's income during his time in office.
Prosecutors say his assets include cash, bank deposits, watches, jewellery and a 300-bottle wine cellar.
Several members of his close family, including his father and brother, are facing separate charges relating to the corruption. Their trial is ongoing.
Ao, who faces a maximum penalty of 30 years behind bars, is due to learn his fate at 0730 GMT (3.30pm Singapore time) at the southern Chinese city's Court of Final appeal, a spokeswoman for Macau's government said on Wednesday.
Ao chose not to appear on the stand during the trial, only making a brief statement at the end.
'I deeply regret all the disturbances that the whole case has caused to the government and the society,' Ao told the court in a slightly trembling voice, according to a report in the South China Morning Post.
He denies all charges against him.
Ao was arrested in December 2006 by the Macau Commission Against Corruption, who are prosecuting the high-profile case, which has put the spotlight on the casino city.
Last year, the city took in more than US$10 billion of revenues from its casinos, more than the Las Vegas Strip and just shy of the total take by the wider Las Vegas area.
Macau has enjoyed an unprecedented boom since it opened up its casino market in 2001, benefiting from a flood of overseas money, mainly from United States operators desperate to tap into the wealth of the voracious Chinese gambler.
Critics have said much of the sparkling new construction has masked worsening social problems, organised crime and corruption in the city of 550,000.
Ao's charges are linked to projects ranging from new casinos to bridges.
He is also accused of laundering money overseas using a network of bank accounts to disguise the transactions and of siphoning public money from the former Portuguese colony via a number of shell companies, including some in Hong Kong set up with the help of his relatives. -- AFP
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