Pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai jailed over fraud in Hong Kong

Hong Kong: In Hong Kong, a pro-democracy media tycoon has been sentenced yesterday to five years and nine months in prison over two fraud charges linked to lease violations.

Jimmy Lai, who was arrested during a crackdown on the city’s pro-democracy movement following widespread protests in 2019 and under the National Security Law imposed by Beijing, was also fined two million Hong Kong dollars. 

His media company, Next Digital, published the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily. The publication was forced to close following the arrests of its top



executives, editors and journalists last year.

In October, Lai was found guilty of fraud for subletting part of the office space to a secretarial firm, which was also controlled by him, between 2016 and 2020.

The second fraud count was for letting the same firm use the media outlet’s office space in an alleged breach of lease agreements from 1998 to 2015.

Handing down the sentences, Judge Stanley Chan said the violations occurred over two decades, adding Lai did not feel guilty about the moves.