US prosecutors have accused a former Hong Kong official working on behalf of a Chinese conglomerate of facilitating arms transactions in Africa and the Middle East, as well as brokering business with Iran that violates US sanctions.
Patrick Ho Chi-ping, Hong Kong’s home secretary from 2002 to 2007, was arrested in New York last year on charges of attempting to bribe officials in Chad and Uganda to win favourable treatment for Shanghai-based CEFC China Energy, once China’s largest private energy group.
Following Mr Ho’s arrest in November, the chairman of CEFC was detained by Chinese authorities and the company has started selling overseas assets and pulling out of cross-border acquisitions, such as a $9bn purchase of a stake in Russian oil and gas producer Rosneft.