Then Secretary for Development Carrie Lam said that the Buildings Department investigation into Tang's illegal construction would be a drawn-out process. She warned of criminal proceedings against Tang and his wife if there was evidence that drawings submitted to the Buildings Department in 2007 had "knowingly" been misrepresented. Property owners found guilty of knowingly undertaking construction work without government approval may face two years in jail and a fine of up to HK$400,000; owners misrepresenting any drawings submitted to the Buildings Department are liable to a fine of HK$1 million and three years in prison. As the chief executive is not immune from criminal prosecution, representatives of the legal profession on the Election Committee pointed out that such an eventuality could bring the office of chief executive into disrepute, and precipitate a governance crisis. Commentators observed that Henry Tang had embarrassed Beijing and made it lose control of the election process. Liberal Party chairman James Tien said his party would not support Tang if 50% or more of the public continued to oppose his candidacy, as he feared Hong Kong could "face a governance crisis". He warned that if Tang succeeded in becoming Chief Executive despite his unpopularity, a hundred thousand people might "take their anger onto the streets." The illegal basement was filled in in March 2013. In July 2013, Lisa Kuo appeared in court, where she pleaded guilty to one charge of "building an illegal basement", and not guilty to a second charge of "knowingly commencing building works without obtaining approval". The second charge was subsequently dropped. Tang was not charged with any offence. In November, the court fined Kuo a total of HK$110,000. Tang complained about the magnitude of the fine, saying that the heaviest such penalty in the past decade was HK$15,000.