African presidents’ oil bribe trial like Hollywood film script – CNN

Newspapers are reacting to the prosecution of a Hong Kong politician who tried to bribe two African presidents in exchange for contracts for a Chinese oil company.

On Monday, Patrick Ho Chi-Ping was sentenced to three years in prison in the US for bribery and money laundering.

CNN said that the trial of Patrick Ho Chi-Ping “felt like a Hollywood film script”.

“It spanned three continents, millions of dollars and included clandestine meetings with African leaders in the middle of the Sahara Desert.”

That deal in the Sahara Desert refers to Ho allegedly offering a $2m (£1.5m) cash bribe in gift boxes to the President of Chad Idriss Deby, CNN says.

Prosecutors said Ho proposed flying secretly to “a village in the middle of the desert” to meet Mr Deby and negotiate fines imposed by Chad on China’s state oil company, reports the Financial Times.

The government of Chad deny the claims.

CNN adds that Ho also schemed to pay a $500,000 cash bribe to the President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni. It stipulates that the bribe was not paid and there is no suggestion that Mr Museveni accepted or solicited it.