Ex-audit chief, top counsel named to Zhang probe panel

Eunice Lam and Michael Shum

Noted auditor David Sun Tak-kei and senior counsel Richard Khaw Wei-kiang have been chosen to join a special five-strong panel to probe allegations against University of Hong Kong president and vice-chancellor Zhang Xiang, according to the chairwoman of the university's governing council.

The council proposed last month to set up a five-member panel to investigate mismanagement allegations against Zhang, after it received several anonymous emails in late September.

Speaking after the council meeting yesterday, chairwoman Priscilla Wong Pui-sze said the council appointed Sun and Khaw to be the two independent members outside of the council to join the panel.

"Khaw is a senior counsel who is very familiar with civil litigations and also very experienced in [conducting] inquest or inquiry. As many of you might recall, Sun is a former director of audit and therefore is an expert," Wong said.

"We hope the five panel members will finish their work within the [12-week] deadline and submit a report to the council," she added.

The university council subsequently released a statement in the evening, saying "the panel will look into the allegations fairly and impartially and will reach their findings through evidence-based investigation in an unbiased manner to ensure that the conclusion is fair."

Sun, 70, was director of audit from 2012 to 2018, and president of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants from 2003 to 2007.

He started at Ernst and Young in 1977 after receiving his Master of Accountancy degree from the University of Illinois. Sun was also a member of the Securities and Futures Commission from 2001 to 2007.

He retired as the company's Far East co-area managing partner in 2010 before becoming a member of the governing council of the City University of Hong Kong from April to July 2012. He left the post after being appointed director of audit. He retired in December 2018 after serving for almost 6 1/2 years.

Khaw, 52, was called to the bar in 1993 and appointed senior counsel in 2016. He was a recorder of the Court of First Instance of the High Court in October 2021. Before that, he was the deputy judge of the Court of First Instance from 2018 to 2020. Khaw obtained his law master from the University of Cambridge in 1994.

He is also chairman of the Administrative Appeals Board and a member of the Management Committee of the Consumer Legal Action Fund.

Allegations against Zhang include inappropriately handling donations from mainland company Ninestar and hiring a US headhunter agency without bidding.

He was also accused of replacing the president's vehicle with a BMW he favored without bidding and used HK$55 million to renovate the senior staff common room.

Legislator Jimmy Ng Wing-ka, who chairs the university's audit committee, will chair the panel, which also includes two council members, Brian Stevenson and Jason Chiu Tsz-kiu.

Earlier, Zhang doubted the council's ability to handle the accusations against him fairly, voicing concern about the possibility of unauthorized disclosure by council members and their potential connection to the rumormongers.

eunice.lam@singtaonewscorp.com

michael.shum@singtaonewscorp.com