[4][5][6] Lew was a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference from 2008 to 2013 and was outspoken as a high-profile supporter of Leung Chun-ying during the 2012 Hong Kong Chief Executive election.

He was appointed a national committee member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference representing Hong Kong, serving in that post from 2008 until 2013, when he lost his seat.

He was a high-profile supporter of Leung Chun-ying early in the 2012 Hong Kong Chief Executive Election.

As Tang's popularity suffered severely in wake of the scandals, Beijing eventually turned its favourite to Leung.

He attended the July 1 march in 2014 opposing Beijing’s controversial white paper on Hong Kong’s autonomy and a demonstration against the abduction of Causeway Bay Books publisher Lee Po.

[3][5][15] In October 2013, Lew was charged with conspiracy to defraud and money laundering, as were two other executives of Pearl Oriental Oil and a third person.

[8] However, in February 2016, he was found guilty of perverting the course of justice over the letters and emails he sent to Leung Chun-ying attempting to stop the earlier case.