The founder of Next Digital Jimmy Lai Chee-ying won an appeal over a fraud case involving illegal use of land for 22 years, with his conviction and sentence quashed. The Department of Justice will study the ruling thoroughly in order to consider lodging an appeal.
This came after Lai was jailed for 20 years on a separate national security charge over two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one for publishing seditious materials.
Lai and Wong Wai-keung, the former director of Next Digital, were found guilty in 2022 for breaching the lease terms of Apple Daily's headquarters by concealing the operation of a private company Dico Consultants Ltd, which was owned by Lai, at the Next Digital building in the Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate.
The 78-year-old Lai was sentenced to five years and nine months in jail over the case, with a HK$2 million fine and disqualification from company management for eight years, while the 61-year-old Wong was sentenced to 21 months' imprisonment.
During the appeal hearing, Lai's lawyer said Dico Consultants supported the publishing and printing of the newspapers apart from handling Lai's private affairs.
On Thursday, the Court of Appeal stated that the prosecution failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Lai and Wong had made false statements claiming that the building had always been used for the specified purpose and stated that Apple Daily Printing did not owe a duty to the Corporation to disclose its breach of the user restrictions or the non-alienation clauses occasioned by Dico's occupation and use of the said Premises."
"The Court of Appeal gave them leave to appeal against their conviction, allowed their appeals, quashed the convictions and set aside the sentences," the judges wrote in a press summary of their judgment.
Lai did not appear in court and remains behind bars.
In response to the judgment, the government spokesman said it is an "indisputable fact" that Lai has exploited valuable public resources of the SAR for over 20 years.
"In its judgment on Lai Chee-ying's fraud case, the Court of Appeal clearly pointed out that Lai Chee-ying's private company, Dico Consultants Limited (Dico), occupied and used the relevant premises in the Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate, and that Apple Daily Printing Limited (ADPL) breached the terms of the leasing instruments."
The spokesman stressed, "Although the Court of Appeal considered that, in the factual context of this case, the breach in question did not reach the criminal conviction threshold for the offence of 'fraud', the objective fact remains that Lai Chee-ying has exploited public resources for private use."
