Peter Fitzroy Godber

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Peter Fitzroy Godber 葛柏

Peter Fiztroy Godber (official name in Chinese: 葛柏) (born April 7, 1922 in London) was Kowloon's Deputy District Commissioner of the Royal Hong Kong Police Force and was caught in a bribe scandal after his retirement in 1973. He fled Hong Kong (to England and then Australia), but he was later captured and sent back to Hong Kong for trial. He served four years in jail for his actions.

Godber was a senior officer at Wanchai police station and later at Kai Tak Airport police station. Before his retirement due date in 1973, he had amassed no less than 4.3 million Hong Kong Dollars (approximately 600,000 US Dollars) in his overseas bank accounts. The police anti-corruption branch investigated his mysterious wealth and ordered him to explain his source of income. In response, Godber immediately arranged for his wife to leave the colony, then he used his police airport pass to bypass Immigration and Passport checks and walked onto a plane for London. Godber's escape led to a large public outcry over the integrity of the police's self-investigations and called for reforms in the government's anti-corruption efforts.

His conviction and other corruption activities in Hong Kong in the 1970s lead to the creation of the Independent Commission Against Corruption in 1974.

He now resides in Spain.