Gerber’s characters and events

Gerber was tried at the Victoria Court on February 17, 1975. At that time, the British Hong Kong government hired outstanding legal experts from the United Kingdom to Hong Kong for the first time to serve as prosecutors in the case, which reflected the importance that the British government attached to the case and its determination to combat corruption. Gerber was ultimately charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and one count of accepting bribes. After a six-and-a-half-day trial, he was finally found guilty and sentenced to four years in prison. All the bribes of HK$25,000 were confiscated. Judge Yang Tieliang, who presided over the Gerber case that year, said: "According to the facts of the case, the maximum penalties for Gerber's two charges are 5 years and 7 years respectively. When sentencing, the approximately 1 year of Gerber's detention in the UK must be calculated. Therefore, the sentence that Gerber was sentenced to was actually quite close to the maximum penalty." Later, although Gerber appealed to the Collegiate Bench of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong and the British Privy Council (the final court of appeal in Hong Kong during the British rule), both were rejected. The Chief Superintendent, who was once a powerful figure in the police force, was eventually imprisoned and had to pay the price for his corruption crimes. Gerber was released from prison in 1977 and lived in seclusion in Spain. He has been missing since and is probably no longer alive.

The ICAC also formally filed a lawsuit with the court to recover the more than 4 million yuan that Gerber gained from corruption through civil prosecution procedures. Although the tracing work has encountered many obstacles because Gerber's wealth is scattered in many overseas regions, the ICAC is still pursuing it to this day.

After Gerber was convicted, British Hong Kong revised the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and deleted the interpretation period requirement in Article 10 in response to the loopholes discovered during the handling of the case. The ICAC brought Gerber to justice, eliminating the public criticism that the ICAC "only swatted flies, not tigers" and won the recognition and trust of the public. Judge Yang Tieliang believed that this case not only became an important milestone in the work of the ICAC in combating corruption but also restored public confidence in the judicial system.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption is a household name in Hong Kong and has received 98% public support. Citizens are proud to work for the Independent Commission Against Corruption. The establishment of this organization was directly related to the absconding case of former Hong Kong Chief Superintendent Gerber. Since the late 1950s, Hong Kong's economy has developed rapidly and has become one of the Four Asian Tigers, showing a prosperous scene. One of the social problems brought about by economic growth and wealth accumulation is the increasing corruption of government officials. In order to maintain their livelihood and quickly obtain the services they deserve, citizens are forced to "go through the back door".

At that time, there were two areas hardest hit by corruption in Hong Kong, namely the law enforcement team and the service industry. Medical staff ask for "tea money" from patients, otherwise they won't even get boiled water and bedpans; firefighters have to charge "opening fees" to put out fires, otherwise they would rather watch the fire burn. Various alternatives to bribery, such as "black money" and "ghosts", have emerged in endlessly and have become a common phenomenon in Hong Kong society. It has become an unspoken rule in Hong Kong society that people should give red envelopes when they go to the police to do business. At that time, police officers who were bribed were involved in prostitution and gambling, drug trafficking and gambling, which had a very bad impact on society. The citizens were miserable and had great opinions on this.

In the law enforcement team, the entire police force has been almost wiped out, and it is difficult to find a non-corrupt police officer. No one can accurately estimate the extent of police corruption. A police superintendent named Hande joined the police in 1954 and was imprisoned for corruption in 1973. In 19 years, he robbed 5 million Hong Kong dollars of illegal property. When he was imprisoned, he appeared very calm when facing reporters, saying: "I was just unlucky and came across an idea. Corruption is a way of life in the Hong Kong police force, just like going to bed at night and getting up to brush your teeth during the day. "It's very natural." He also said that this situation is very common in the Hong Kong police force. From top to bottom, almost everyone does this, and no one thinks it is a crime. It’s impossible to take down the entire Hong Kong police force, right?

Hong Kong citizens, especially young intellectuals, are very dissatisfied with the corruption of the British Hong Kong authorities, and various protests have occurred one after another. At that time, the overseas "Diaoyu Protection" movement was rising, nationalism and patriotism were stirring among young intellectuals, and the legitimacy of British colonial rule was questioned. The British Hong Kong government decided to use anti-corruption methods to divert the whole society's dissatisfaction with colonial rule. The British Hong Kong authorities understand that if they do not resolutely fight against corruption and prevent corruption at the institutional level, their rule in Hong Kong will face huge challenges.

Just at this time, the "Guerber case" occurred, which directly gave birth to the Independent Commission Against Corruption. Gerber is a British police officer in Hong Kong. His technical position is Chief Superintendent (roughly equivalent to the first-class police supervisor in the Mainland), and his administrative position is the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Kowloon District. He is the third-ranking figure in the Kowloon District Police. Gerber has been working as a police officer for 22 years. He has made several meritorious deeds and has been awarded by the Queen of England. His status is extremely special.

Gerber's problems had been revealed as early as 1971. then. Relevant Canadian authorities have become suspicious of a deposit deposited in a Canadian bank. The money amounted to 12,000 Canadian dollars. The household name was "Zhuo Bai" and the head of the household was a diplomat. Canada is a Commonwealth country. When the relevant parties learned that this "Zhuo Bai" was actually a Hong Kong police officer, they reported the matter to Hong Kong through internal channels of the Commonwealth. After the Hong Kong Police Commissioner (the highest person in charge of the Hong Kong police agency) learned of the news, he handed the case to the Anti-Corruption Office under the police station.

Because of Gerber's intricate connections in Hong Kong, he got the news as soon as the police started investigating. Gerber knew that since this matter had alerted the Commissioner of Police, he would definitely be in big trouble. In order to avoid punishment, Gerber decided to apply for retirement on the grounds of his wife's poor health and his own declining physical strength. The Hong Kong Police Force agreed to his retirement from July 1973.

The "Gerber Case" task force requested instructions from the Commissioner of Police and requested that Gerber be suspended for further investigation before retiring. At the suggestion of the Department of Justice, Article 10 of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance was invoked for the first time, requiring Gerber to explain the source of his property within one week. The task force also searched Gerber's apartment and car and found three account books and a batch of documents.

These three account books total more than 200 pages, detailing Gerber’s bribery. The industries that paid bribes to him include karaoke bars, brothels, mahjong schools, opium cigarette stalls and other pornographic, gambling and drug dens. The law firm covers Hong Kong, Kowloon, the New Territories and outlying islands, and the amount of bribes it accepted amounted to HK$4.3 million. In the 1970s, those with such huge wealth were considered rich in Hong Kong.

Gerber understood that the amount of bribes he had accepted was so huge that the only way out was to escape. At that time, he had not officially resigned, he was still the chief superintendent, and he still had a police officer's pass in his hand. On June 8, 1973, Gerber bought a ticket from Hong Kong to Singapore through his connections. He easily bypassed the immigration checkpoints, successfully boarded the plane, and transferred to the United Kingdom via Singapore. After setting foot on British soil, Gerber breathed a sigh of relief and thought he was completely safe. After the news that Gerber took advantage of his position to accept more than NT$4.3 million in bribes was revealed by the press, Hong Kong citizens became angry. According to media reports, during the last period of his tenure, Gerber took bribes to an almost crazy level, taking an average of more than 30,000 yuan per month. In the early 1970s, a 100-square-meter apartment in the central district of Hong Kong sold for only about HK$20,000. It is conceivable that the shock caused to Hong Kong society after this case was exposed.

The news of Gerber's escape was quickly detected by the media, and Hong Kong college students began to take to the streets. They carried a large slogan saying "Fight Corruption, Catch Gerber". More and more people are participating in the march, and the wave of protests is getting higher and higher. The Governor of Hong Kong, Sir MacLehose, began to realize the seriousness of the problem. He knew that if the unrest could not be quelled quickly, the British government would doubt his ability to govern.

MacLehose issued a warrant and appointed Sir Bailiqu, then Senior Deputy Prosecutor of Hong Kong, to set up a committee of inquiry to thoroughly investigate the reasons for Gerber's escape and review the anti-corruption work at the time. Bailiqu was very clear about the problems existing in the Hong Kong police system, and also had a relatively good understanding of the relevant circumstances of the Gerber case. He submitted an investigative report. In the report, Bailiqu repeatedly emphasized that the Gerber case had been filed as early as two years ago, but there had not been much progress for a long time. The key reason is that the anti-corruption office is affiliated with the police department and cannot independently investigate and handle cases. In his report, Bailiqu also analyzed in detail the shortcomings of setting up anti-corruption departments within police agencies, and recommended the establishment of an independent anti-corruption agency and the implementation of more stringent anti-corruption laws.

On February 15, 1974, the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption was established in accordance with the "Office of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Ordinance", which stipulates: "The Independent Commission Against Corruption is directly responsible to the Governor of Hong Kong. Except for the Governor, the Independent Commission Against Corruption is not subject to any The command and jurisdiction of any other person. "This provision determines that the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption has very high powers. Anyone except the Governor of Hong Kong can be investigated without interference.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption has established departments based on the three major tasks of "investigation, prevention and education". They are the Enforcement Division, Corruption Prevention Division and Community Relations Division. The Enforcement Division is the largest agency in the Independent Commission Against Corruption. It is responsible for reporting and investigating anti-corruption cases and has a staff of about 900 people. The head of the Enforcement Division is concurrently served by the Deputy Commissioner against Corruption. The main responsibility of the Corruption Prevention Department is to design corruption prevention plans and promptly discover and plug corruption loopholes. The establishment is about 60 people. The Community Relations Office mainly carries out anti-corruption propaganda and has a staff of more than 200 people.

In order to prevent the Independent Commission Against Corruption from becoming corrupt like the police, the Hong Kong government has established four supervisory agencies outside the Independent Commission Against Corruption: the Corruption Advisory Committee, the Advisory Committee on Review of Corruption Reports, the Corruption Prevention Advisory Committee, and the Community Concerned Citizens Advisory Committee. These four committees are independent of the ICAC and are composed of relevant government personnel and private individuals. Among them, the Corruption Advisory Committee is responsible for supervising the entire ICAC. The other three committees oversee the Operations Department, Corruption Prevention Department and Community Relations Department respectively.

There are two sentences that are well-known in Hong Kong. One sentence often appears on Hong Kong TV, "Hong Kong is better because of you and ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption)." This means that Hong Kong can maintain economic prosperity and civil servants. Integrity is largely due to the existence of the Independent Commission Against Corruption; another saying is a common mantra, "The ICAC invites you to drink coffee", which means that the invitee has been included in the ICAC's investigation list. It is said that when being invited to the Independent Commission Against Corruption for questioning, the person being questioned will enjoy the treatment of drinking cheap coffee; in addition, the Independent Commission Against Corruption stipulates that any person under investigation who discloses the contents of the investigation without the approval of the Independent Commission Against Corruption shall commit a criminal offence. Therefore, when the person under investigation was asked about the relevant situation, he could only answer one sentence: "The ICAC would like to drink coffee." After the ICAC was established, the first case it handled was the "Gerber case."

Gerber has fled back to the UK. Although Hong Kong was still under the leadership of the British government at the time, there was no such charge in the UK as "financial conditions inconsistent with official income." Therefore, it is impossible for Gerber to be sentenced in the UK, and it is impossible for the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption to request the UK to extradite Gerber back to Hong Kong for trial. There is only one way to extradite Gerber, and that is to find evidence that he committed a crime in Hong Kong that can be recognized by British law.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption dispatched its first Executive Director Peng Dingguo, Deputy Executive Director Xia Lielian and other senior officials to form a core investigation team to look for clues to solve the case based on clues provided by the police.

At the beginning, the work of the core investigation team was difficult. Mr. Huang Guoliang, who had participated in this investigation, recalled: "We already have a lot of evidence showing that Gerber has a large amount of wealth that cannot be explained. It's a pity that no one was willing to stand up and testify against Gerber. Perhaps the public's views at that time were still very conservative, and they just dared to be angry but did not dare to speak out. At the same time, they did not have enough confidence in the newly established ICAC, but we believe in time and our performance. It will definitely enable us to win the trust of the public."

The core investigation team has done a lot of work. A few months later, a prisoner named Hande told the Independent Commission Against Corruption through special channels. He was willing to provide important evidence of Gerber's corruption. Han De is also a foreigner. Before being imprisoned, he was also a member of the Royal Hong Kong Police. His title was Superintendent, two levels lower than Gerber. According to Han De, a Chinese police superintendent named Zheng Hanquan of the Wan Chai Police Station once bribed Gerber 25,000 Hong Kong dollars to obtain the "fat position" of Wan Chai police superintendent. Hande was at the scene and was a witness to the bribery transaction. After obtaining some corresponding evidence, the Independent Commission Against Corruption arrested Zheng Hanquan. After a fierce battle, Zheng Hanquan finally expressed his willingness to cooperate with the Independent Commission Against Corruption and testify in court. Relevant ICAC personnel know very well that the amount involved in the Gerber case is as high as more than 4.3 million yuan. This witness could only prove that Gerber received a bribe of HK$25,000, and there was a huge gap between the two.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption has two options. One is to continue investigating and collecting evidence. The first is to immediately negotiate with the British authorities to extradite Gerber back to Hong Kong for trial.

After repeated weighings, the Independent Commission Against Corruption believes that the most important thing at the moment is to extradite Gerber. As long as he can be convicted, it will be the greatest victory. Hong Kong requested to extradite Goldberg to the UK. After an eight-month trial in a London court, a British judge finally ruled that Goldberg would be remanded to Hong Kong for trial. When the news came, the people of Hong Kong were delighted. On January 7, 1975, a year and a half after Gerber fled Hong Kong, the Independent Commission Against Corruption finally escorted him back to Hong Kong.

February 17, 1975. The Victoria Court in Hong Kong opened a hearing on Gerber's case. After six and a half days of interrogation, Gerber was finally found guilty, and the once-all-powerful Chief Superintendent in the police was jailed.

To 1976. The Independent Commission Against Corruption, which was established less than two years ago, has uncovered nearly 20 corruption groups in the police. Several superintendents and hundreds of police officers were arrested or wanted, which also caused dissatisfaction among many police officers. On October 28, 1977, more than 2,000 police officers held a massive demonstration on Hong Kong Island to protest against the excessive power of the Independent Commission Against Corruption. They first submitted a petition to the Commissioner of Police, then marched to the ICAC headquarters, broke into the ICAC, vandalized it and beat ICAC officials. In the following days, police officers continued to cause trouble on the streets and vent their dissatisfaction with the Independent Commission Against Corruption, and the situation was once out of control. Faced with the intensifying conflict between the police and the Independent Commission Against Corruption, Hong Kong Governor MacLehose issued a statement on November 5, deciding to let go of police corruption before January 1, 1977. At the same time, the Legislative Council passed an emergency decree authorizing the Commissioner of Police to immediately fire any police officer who disobeys orders. So far, the police's trouble-making behavior has been effectively curbed, and large-scale police corruption has been significantly reduced.

The establishment of the Independent Commission Against Corruption played a fundamental role in the improvement of Hong Kong's social atmosphere. This set off a "silent revolution" in Hong Kong society. The public's attitude towards corruption has changed from reluctant acceptance to public condemnation and active reporting, giving birth to a clean society. The ICAC's logo "ICAC" has gradually become the confidence of Hong Kong citizens, and Hong Kong has entered the era of clean government. According to surveys and assessments by international organizations, Hong Kong has consistently ranked among the top three in Asia in terms of clean governance in recent years. It is also one of the cleanest cities in the world. Former Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa believed: "Hong Kong is renowned overseas for its clean civil servants and fair-competitive business environment, and the Independent Commission Against Corruption really plays a major role."