A former senior Hong Kong government official and two tycoon brothers were charged with bribery and misconduct in public office by the anti-graft body of the special administrative region on Friday, while a new senior official resigned Thursday for suspected corruption.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) laid a total of eight charges against the former Chief Secretary for Administration Rafael Hui and co-chairmen of Sun Hung Kai Properties Thomas and Raymond Kwok.

The alleged offences include misconduct in public office, conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office, conspiracy to offer advantages to a public servant and furnishing false information. They took place between June 2000 and January 2009.

Hui and the Kwok brothers were arrested in March on suspicion of corruption and released on bail. The defendants appeared in court on Friday to hear the charges and will stand trial in October.

In another development, Mak Chai-kwong, who took up the post of the Secretary for Development less than two weeks ago, tendered his resignation on Thursday, and will be replaced by the Financial Secretary John Tsang until further notice, according to an e-mail sent by the Chief Executive's Office to the Global Times.

Mak Chai-kwong, Tsang King-man, assistant director of the Highways Department and two other people have been arrested for allegedly violating the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance in relation to government housing allowances 20 years ago, People's Daily reported.

Mak and Tsang allegedly rented their houses to each other and also applied for the allowances, gaining 250,000 yuan ($39,139).