Hong Kong Authorities Aim to Confiscate $16 Mln from Jimmy Lai
The Hong Kong government has launched a legal bid to confiscate assets worth more than HK$127 mln ($16.22 mln) from the imprisoned media tycoon Jimmy Lai, Reuters reports.
A High Court writ published on Tuesday outlines the targeted wealth which includes private company shares, small factory premises and numerous bank accounts belonging to the former billionaire.
The forfeiture hearing is scheduled to take place on July 8. Representatives for Lai’s legal team have declined to comment on the matter.
Targeted wealth and corporate assets
The most significant portion of the targeted wealth relates to Lai’s shares in two private enterprises known as Dico Consultants and Comitex Holdings. According to the legal documents these shareholdings are valued at upwards of HK$71.3 mln ($9.10 mln) due to the firms’ substantial bank balances and property portfolios.
Furthermore officials are looking to seize HK$12 mln ($1.53 mln) that Jimmy Lai previously posted for bail alongside various deposits spread across more than 50 different bank accounts linked to him and his privately held businesses.
Background of a prominent critic
Jimmy Lai originally made his fortune in the garment industry before transitioning into publishing where he founded the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper. As a prominent pro-democracy campaigner and fierce critic of Beijing he was handed a 20-year prison sentence in February. He was convicted of one count of publishing seditious material and two counts of conspiring to collude with foreign forces.
His high-profile prosecution generated significant international alarm regarding the ongoing crackdown on civil liberties in Hong Kong. Conversely pro-Beijing officials and state media have consistently painted Lai as a pro-U.S. traitor who masterminded the widespread pro-democracy protests that disrupted the city for months in 2019.
Expanding national security powers
This latest move to seize his assets is being executed under the operational guidelines of the controversial national security law which Beijing imposed on the territory in 2020.
Legal experts note that these regulations provide the government with sweeping authority to freeze and ultimately confiscate financial assets and property connected to national security convictions.
While international human rights organisations and Western governments have heavily criticised the legislation authorities in China and Hong Kong maintain it was a necessary measure to restore stability following the turbulent 2019 demonstrations.
