Tommy Yuen admits sedition and laundering

Singer-activist Tommy Yuen Man-on yesterday pleaded guilty to sedition and money laundering in the district court and will be remanded for sentencing on August 11.

Yuen, 43, a member of the Cantopop boy band E-kids that has since disbanded, has been an activist for the pro-democracy camp over the past few years and at the height of the 2019 social unrest.

He was accused of committing an act or acts with seditious intention in social media posts that incited hatred of the SAR government and the judicial system from September 26, 2021, to January 21 last year.

He was also charged with one count of money laundering HK$718,788 from April 27, 2021, to February 15 last year.

Judge Ernest Lin Kam-hung slammed Yuen for his ingratitude toward society and the defense's contention that Yuen had contributed through charitable works.

"The defendant has bitten the hand that fed him," Lin said.

The court was told Yuen had organized crowdfunding and called on people to financially support protesters who had been arrested for rioting in 2019.

He operates two Facebook accounts and one on Instagram, and one of the Facebook accounts has over 50,000 followers.

Yuen was accused of posting hateful content on police officers, which included one in September 2021 in which he said the death of chief inspector Kary Lam Yuen-yee of the marine police was "good news that deserves celebrating" and "karma" in return for police torturing people arrested in 2019.

He was also accused of calling on others to break out champagne when West Kowloon chief magistrate and national security judge Victor So Wai-tak reportedly went on leave to undergo heart surgery: "How gladdening it is to the 'heart.'"

He also incited others to "celebrate" the worsening health of former chief executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, praised a wild boar for biting a police officer, and asserted that now-defunct media outlets Apple Daily and Stand News were forced to shut down for reporting the truth.

National security police found WhatsApp chats between Yuen and his wife, Eva Cheung Yi-Man, about a fabricated story of a 19-year-old girl, whom he called A and said facing trial for rioting.

He sold fruits, concert tickets and cookies purportedly baked by A, and called on others to support the girl.

The campaign raised HK$718,788.27 and police found the fund was kept by Yuen's brother-in-law Wong Tin-ho.

Some of the money were subsequently transferred to Yuen's bank account and his Jockey Club gambling account.