The Hong Kong government has condemned wanted ex-lawmaker Ted Hui’s “unfounded smear” after he slammed a court order allowing HK$800,000 of assets to be confiscated from him and his family members.
Ted Hui in the UK. File Photo: May James/HKFP.
Hui, who is now based in Australia and is wanted by Hong Kong’s national security police, said on Facebook on Monday that the High Court had issued an order to confiscate assets held by his mother and wife in Hong Kong, as well as trust money held by his law firm in Australia.
His Facebook post also included a screenshot of the court’s confiscation order, made under the 2020 Beijing-imposed national security law. Hui said the order, dated Monday, was “absurd” and amounted to a “violation of human rights.”
‘Malicious attacks online’
In response, the Hong Kong government issued a statement shortly after midnight on Tuesday, condemning “the unfounded smear and malicious attacks online.”
Hui transferred HK$2.5 million in personal assets as gifts to his mother and wife before, and after, he “absconded” from Hong Kong, according to the statement.
It also said the court ordered “the confiscation of proceeds” that Hui “obtained from committing offences endangering national security” after the Department of Justice applied for the order.
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day, as marked in Tsim Sha Tsui on July 1, 2024. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
“It is a common and effective practice to make an application to the Court for a confiscation order to prevent offenders from benefiting from their criminal acts,” a government spokesperson was quoted as saying in the statement.
The court was satisfied that Hui “could have been convicted of the relevant offence” and that he had benefited from the offence, the spokesperson said.
Hong Kong issued an arrest warrant against Hui in July 2023, after the former lawmaker fled the city in 2020.
A total of 19 people overseas, including Hui, are wanted by the Hong Kong police over national security offences. His passport was cancelled last December under the city’s homegrown security law.
Separate to the 2020 Beijing-enacted security law, the homegrown Safeguarding National Security Ordinance targets treason, insurrection, sabotage, external interference, sedition, theft of state secrets and espionage.
Under Hong Kong law, any gift made by a defendant accused of benefitting from criminal proceeds within a six-year period before they are prosecuted can be confiscated, the Monday statement said.
“The Court is also satisfied with the relevant transaction evidence submitted by the Department of Justice,” it added.
