Cops freeze Hui's crowdfund cash

Sophie Hui

Police have frozen HK$850,000 in the bank accounts of former lawmaker Ted Hui Chi-fung, who has fled to Europe. Police accuse him of breaching the national security law and money laundering.

"Our investigation revealed that the person was suspected of embezzling funds obtained through online crowdfunding earlier, and used the accounts of his relatives to process the money," the police force said in a statement on its Facebook page but did not name Hui.

"The suspect also allegedly colluded with external forces to endanger national security."

Police said the force has frozen the accounts related to the case involving about HK$850,000, and is considering whether to order the fugitive's arrest and track the missing funds.

Police Commissioner Chris Tang Ping-keung hit out at Hui for having raised money through crowdfunding and inciting youngsters to break the law after he fled overseas with his family. He did not name Hui in an interview with TVB.

On Facebook yesterday, Hui said all money raised from crowdfunding had been saved in the bank account of a law firm - which he didn't name - and the audit report had been fully disclosed.

"The funds have nothing to do with my personal and my family's accounts," he said.

Hui said five bank accounts belonging to him and his family have been frozen. They were their lifelong savings of several million Hong Kong dollars. It is understood the accounts are with HSBC, Hang Seng Bank and Bank of China.

Police are probing HK$3.5 million suspected to have been raised through crowdfunding as Tang said additional charges may be laid against Hui.

Last year, Hui and a team of Democratic Party lawyers held crowdfunding for private prosecutions and civil injunctions against police, helping in five lawsuits against the police to reveal the ingredients of tear gas. The crowdfunding website says the campaign raised more than HK$3.5 million.

The 38-year-old pro-democracy activist and legislator for Hong Kong Island faces nine charges over protest-related offenses in Hong Kong, and is on bail facing multiple charges connected to a protest at Tuen Mun Park on July 6 last year.

Last Tuesday, Hui traveled to Denmark for meetings on climate change, and announced he would be in exile and quit the Democratic Party. He said the new national security law meant he could be jailed for decades for simply talking about human rights in Hong Kong.

He arrived at London's Heathrow Airport on Friday, apparently to meet up with his parents, wife and their two children who flew out of Hong Kong last week.

Hui said yesterday their bank accounts being frozen was "political revenge by the regime" to suppress the voice of the opposition.

He said the regime did not publicly say whether his family was being investigated and what crimes they were allegedly involved in.

At 9.50pm, Hui said in his Facebook page that an HSBC account belong to his family and him had been unfrozen.

He added he had transferred "the saving to a "safe place."

Tang said in a TV program yesterday that the fugitive should be ashamed for jumping bail.

Tang said police "reluctantly respected" the court's decision to grant bail to Hui, and the force will investigate into additional crimes, such as whether he broke the law by crowdfunding and whether he had made false statements to the court about the reason for his foreign visit when applying for bail.

"If you have no conscience and abscond, and you don't want to bear your responsibility, and raised a crowdfunding before this, I think such behavior disgraced himself and his family," Tang said.

"He should also feel sorry for many aspiring young people who were incited by him to break the law. He should feel ashamed of himself."

Tang said the reasons for the absconding, like being persecuted, are all excuses.

"Many of those incited by him might face jail terms of four years because of rioting. But with his beautiful excuses, he evaded his own responsibilities to face jail and absconded," he said.

Tang also said some countries having suspended the agreement on surrender of fugitive offenders with the SAR will only encourage offenders to continue breaking the law.

Meanwhile, Executive Councilor and barrister Ronny Tong Ka-wah said Hui can engage a lawyer to unfreeze his accounts.

He said police cannot freeze assets only because the person has absconded. If police suspect that such assets are obtained by money laundering, then they can request the bank to freeze the account, regardless of whether the money is in the offender's personal account or family members' accounts.

"Police have to explain to the court such action. If there is no evidence, the court will not allow the freeze to continue. Hui also has the right to hire a lawyer in one or two days and apply to the court for unfreezing,"

Separately, Southern District Council chairman Lo Kin-hei was elected as the new chairman of the Democratic Party yesterday. The 36-year-old was the sole candidate and became the youngest chairman of the party.

Kwun Tong District councillor Edith Leung Yik-ting and former lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting were elected vice-chairs.

Despite Hui having quit the Democratic Party, Lam said it will continue to assist him to fight for justice as well as his family, as it was unacceptable for their bank accounts to be frozen.

sophie.hui@singtaonewscorp.com