Police Confiscate HK$70m Protest-related Fund

The High Court on Monday issued an order for police to confiscate around HK$70 million of assets from a fund-raising platform linked to the protests in 2019 against the now-shelved extradition bill.

Superintendent Chow Cheung-yau, from the force’s financial intelligence and investigation bureau, told the media that organisers of the platform had called for donations via different social media, saying the funding would be used on rallies or to support protesters.

Chow said the platform had collected more than HK$80 million between June and November 2019, and that these funds had been deposited in a private company’s bank account.

He alleged that some of this money had been used for purposes other than claimed by the platform organisers.

But he said he could not disclose details of the transactions or the court’s reasons for issuing the confiscation order.

Chow said arrest warrants were issued for three men and one woman. He said one had been charged with money laundering and another was under investigation, while the other two left Hong Kong in October 2020 and March 2021.

When asked if people who had made donations to the platform could be in jeopardy, Chow said he could not give a definitive answer, but in general, he didn’t think anyone who makes a donation out of good will would be investigated or prosecuted.