Hong Kong Media Owner Jimmy Lai Jailed For Fraud – Jimmy Lai, the owner of pro-democracy media outlets in Hong Kong, was resentenced to five years and nine months in prison on Saturday after being found guilty of fraud in a contractual dispute. Lai, the 75-year-old founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper, had recently completed a 20-month jail term for his participation in protests and unlawful gatherings. He also faces a possible life sentence at his next trial on national security charges.
The previous convictions were due to his role in the massive democratic protests that rocked Hong Kong in 2019, while the most recent case concerns one of his firms breaching the conditions of the lease of his newspaper’s offices. In October, district judge Stanley Chan convicted Lai and former Apple Daily executive Wong Wai-keung guilty of fraud in a conspiracy described as “planned, organized, and years-long.” According to prosecutors, Lai’s personal consulting firm occupied office space rented by Apple Daily for publication and printing purposes.
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This was in defiance of the terms of the lease Apple Daily negotiated with a government company and amounted to fraud, authorities said. Prior to this, defense attorneys contended that the case should have been a civil suit rather than a criminal prosecution because the square footage involved was minimal. In addition to his jail term, Lai was fined HK$2m ($257,000) and was prohibited from managing firms for eight years. The judge sentenced co-defendant Wong, 61, to 21 months in prison, comparing him to “the getaway driver for a robbery.”
The judge said the sentencing was in response to a “simple case of fraud” that stretched back to the 1990s when the lease originally came into existence. He criticized Apple Daily for utilizing its status as a well-known media organization as a “protective shield,” which he claimed prevented the landlord from taking action against the lease violation. However, he stated that the issue was unrelated to politics or press freedom. “Don’t draw any connection to politics,” Chan said.
One of Hong Kong’s best-known pro-democracy activists, Lai has long been openly loathed by Beijing. For years, Apple Daily was scathing in its criticism of China’s Communist party and openly supportive of democracy. It collapsed last year after its funds were frozen and many of its senior staff were charged alongside Lai under the sweeping national security law Beijing imposed on Hong Kong, primarily over their campaign for international sanctions against China.
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