Macau AL candidate’s representative suspected of corruption

The Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) has concluded its investigation into a case of electoral corruption in Macao involving a candidate on a list running for the 2021 parliamentary elections.

“The involved candidate committee trustee is suspected of offering a free sightseeing tour, meals and gifts to more than 200 Macao residents to collect enough voter signatures to submit the application for list recognition,” reads a statement from the CCAC.

The Commission discovered that the “trustee and a tour guide were responsible for organizing a half-day sightseeing tour, providing meals and distributing gifts such as liquid laundry detergent and umbrellas with ‘vote for this candidate list’ printed on them,” it said.

The activities and gifts were, according to the CCAC, funded by the trustee, who reportedly “managed to get more than 200 voters to fill out their personal identification information and sign their respective list proposition slips.

During the CCAC’s investigation, several people admitted that, “through cell phone applications or information passed on by word of mouth,” they learned that “all they had to do was sign the slips to get access to a free tour and free meals.

In the statement, the agency writes that the representative, the tour guide and the two hundred voters have committed the crime of electoral corruption, provided by the electoral law for the Legislative Assembly of Macau, and the case was referred to the Public Prosecutor.

This crime is punishable by a prison sentence of up to eight years, which cannot be suspended or replaced by a fine or other penalties, the statement concluded.