Woo denies involvement with charity

The office of Peter Woo Kwong-ching, senior counsel and former chief of Wharf Holdings' (0004), has alerted members of the public about the suspicious organization "PW Philanthropies," which made various fraudulent references to him on its website.

The organization claims that Woo established this alleged not-for-profit foundation in June 2013 for charity causes relating to sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse, and that the assets of the foundation amount to US$273 million (HK$2.13 billion).

A man named William Wang, who claims to be the legal adviser to Woo and PW Philanthropies, has approached members of the public with suspicious motives to solicit donations through means including inviting them to seminars or gala dinners claiming attendance of Chinese senior state officials and other high profile businessmen, according to a statement from the office.

Woo's office clarified that PW Philanthropies is not established by Woo, nor does it have Woo's knowledge or approval to establish such a purported organization.

It declared that Woo does not have any connection with the website and any information contained therein is not authorized by Woo or in any way related to Woo or his associated companies.

The total endowment made by PW Philanthropies was around US$1.8 billion by the end of 2017 and its annual grantmaking came to about US$20 million, according to its website, where the organization introduced Woo's life and how he established it.

Headquartered in North Point, the organization most recently claimed it donated US$100,000 to the Palestinian Humanitarian Fund last month.

The office of Peter Woo has reported these fraudulent acts to the authorities for criminal investigation and shall consider appropriate legal actions against the perpetrators. Meanwhile, it said neither Woo nor the office shall be accountable for any offers or proposals made by this organization and any donations made in this connection.

It also advised that any parties who have communications or financial transactions with PW Philanthropies to contact local police or the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau of the police force immediately, and any parties approached by any organizations with purported connections with Woo to verify its authenticity.