Crowdfund claimant detained for alleged money laundering

A 30-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of money laundering after allegedly pocketing HK$5.87 million from a crowdfunding campaign that received much more than the original goal of HK$500,000.

The man said he lost his job due to a police assault case and that he needed HK$500,000 to pay his family's living and medical expenses.

Police accused him of manipulating people's sympathies to cover up illegal sources of funding through money laundering.

It is understood that the suspect is former Hong Kong beach volleyball player and primary school teacher Yeung Pok-man.

Yeung was jailed for nine weeks for assaulting a sergeant in November last year.

But police refused to confirm if Yeung was the suspect, who they said was still detained for investigation.

At a press briefing yesterday, chief inspector Tang Hoi-tung from the Narcotics Bureau's financial investigations division said an investigation found that the man received HK$5.87 million from September 8 to October 24 this year.

"The police suspected that he took advantage of people's sympathies by claiming he was broke [and called for public help] to cover up money received from illegal sources," Tang said.

Tang said police have frozen HK$5.07 million in his bank account and seized his phone, bank cards and account statement.

Officers are looking into two properties worth HK$13 million owned by the man and his family, Tang said.

Police are tracing the source and destination of the funds and are investigating if the man has committed other crimes, including fraud.

On September 8, Yeung was jailed for nine weeks for kicking sergeant Chung Wang-yip in the abdomen when police stopped him and accused him of intentionally delaying traffic as part of a general strike in Sheung Shui on November 11 last year.

After sentencing, Yeung made a crowdfunding request, posting his bank account details on his social media account on September 8.

Yeung said he had been fired by the primary school where he worked after being convicted in July and could no longer afford his parents' medical costs and the family's daily expenses.

He earlier said his father recovered from liver cancer two years ago but has diabetes, while his mother has been suffering from depression for more than 10 years.

Yeung promised all the funds he received would be used only for his parents' medical expenses and daily necessities, and posted that he would stop accepting funds when he received enough money.

wallis.wang@singtaonewscorp.com