Macau hacker Hong Iat, who Hong Kong refused to hand over to the US, threw US$9 million behind insider trading job, SEC court documents allege
Hong Kong rejected a US request to hand over the Guangdong native – the first such rejection since the city signed an extradition deal with Washington in 1998
The Macau hacker who Hong Kong refused to hand over to the United States last year speculated US$9 million in an alleged insider trading case, the Post has found.
Hong Iat, whose whereabouts remain unknown along with how he even ended up in Hong Kong custody, also claimed to have HK$5 million (US$541,000) in assets.
The 28-year-old, born in Guangdong province, is wanted in the US for allegedly hacking sensitive information from two New York law firms. But Hong Kong rejected a US request to hand him over after 10 months of negotiations last October – the first such rejection since the city signed an extradition deal with Washington in 1998.
A US court document revealed Hong was held at Hong Kong’s Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre and US prosecutors continued to mail court documents to him three months after his arrest on Christmas Day 2016.
The US State Department’s latest Hong Kong Policy Act report, released in May, disclosed the rejected extradition request. But it did not identify Hong, saying only that a detainee was released into central government custody. A government source later confirmed that the city rejected the US request to turn over Hong, but stressed it was Hong Kong’s own call, amid US claims that the rejection came “at the behest” of the central government.