612 Fund received $270m, court told

The bank account of the defunct 612 Humanitarian Fund that provided financial aid to protesters during the 2019 social unrest recorded transactions involving HK$270 million in 29 months of operation, the court heard.

Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, 90, went on trial with five others yesterday over their alleged roles in the fund that had been set up to pay protesters' legal and medical fees.

Zen was a trustee alongside former legislators Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee, 74, and Cyd Ho Sau-lan, 68, Cantopop singer Denise Ho Wan-see, 45, cultural studies scholar Hui Po-keung, 62, and Sze Ching-wee, 37, who served as secretary for the fund before it shut down in October last year.

The six pleaded not guilty to a single charge each of "failing to apply for registration or exemption from registration within the specified time under the Societies Ordinance" from July 16, 2019 to October 31, 2021. They each face a fine of up to HK$10,000.

Acting deputy director of public prosecutions Anthony Chau Tin-hang said that three days after police clashed with protesters on June 12, 2019, Ng, Hui, and Cyd Ho formed the fund along with former Civil Human Rights Front convener and LGBT rights activist Jimmy Sham Tsz-kit.

Chau said the fund's account information shows it had received 103,000 deposits involving HK$270 million from the establishment of the fund to its shutdown. He alleged the fund had a political purpose.

Senior counsel Ambrose Ho Pui-him, representing Ng, said the prosecution's opening statement had emphasized the fund's political aims and ideals, which he argued were irrelevant to the case.

West Kowloon Principal Magistrate Ada Yim Shun-yee responded by saying that the court would not judge the case based on the fund's political stance, adding: "Why does politics have to be something bad? Neutrality is also a political stance."

Senior counsel Gladys Li, representing Hui, said High Court judge Alex Lee Wan-tang had approved the prosecution's previous application to obtain "irrelevant" information that, if submitted to the court, would be unfair to the defendants. Yim said she "had not considered that this could be a concern," adding that the case only concerned whether the fund was in fact a group subject to the Societies Ordinance.

cjames.lee@singtaonewscorp.com