Hong Kong man jailed for 2 years, 8 months for money-laundering in 2019
Hong Kong Free Press
A Hong Kong man whose bank accounts saw unusual and frequent deposits in 2019 has been jailed for two years and eight months for money-laundering. One of the deposits included remarks that contained part of the now-banned protest slogan “Liberate Hong Kong.”
Deputy District Judge Daniel Tang on Wednesday imposed the prison term on 31-year-old Lee Man-chung, who pleaded guilty to five counts of money-laundering. His co-defendant Yuen Wai-man, 27, will face sentencing next month for one count of the same offence.
According to local media, the pair had handled more than HK$1.67 million deemed to be the proceeds of an indictable offence via multiple bank accounts and payment platforms including PayMe, between September and December 2019.
In one of the suspicious deposits, someone had written “Liberate Hong Kong” in the remarks, a police investigation found. It is part of a slogan frequently chanted by protesters in the 2019 anti-extradition bill unrest, which was later ruled as capable of inciting secession under the Beijing-enacted national security law.
WhatsApp records showed that Lee had asked to borrow his friend Yuen’s PayMe account, after his own account had reached the receiving limit. The money would be passed on to “sons and daughters,” Lee told Yuen at the time.
Lee also invited Yuen to join a Telegram group whose professed goal was to help “sons and daughters who were dreaming.”
2019 unrest
The term “sons and daughters” was often used in 2019 to refer to protesters. Demonstrators would sometimes share their experiences of the protests on the internet. However, to disguise scenes that violated the law, they would say they were just sharing what had happened in a “dream.”
Judge Tang said the case did not involve international elements and there was no evidence that Lee knew the origin of the illicit funds or the crimes involved.
Sources told local media that the court confiscated around HK$600,000 after sentencing Lee.
The judge said the other defendant Yuen had provided useful information to police after she pleaded guilty. She had received treatment for schizophrenia and had shown symptoms of depression and hallucination.
The judge said she had played a relatively minor role in the case and was mainly influenced and orchestrated by Lee. Her chances of reoffending were low.
The court adjourned Yuen’s sentencing to April 9 pending a report on whether she was suitable for a community service order or a probation order.
Protests erupted in June 2019 over a since-axed extradition bill. They escalated into sometimes violent displays of dissent against police behaviour, amid calls for democracy and anger over Beijing’s encroachment. Demonstrators demanded an independent probe into police conduct, amnesty for those arrested and a halt to the characterisation of protests as “riots.”
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