'I will clear my name': Lawmaker Claudia Mo submits files disputing claims of Jimmy Lai payments

Civic Party lawmaker Claudia Mo Man-ching says she is ready to give a Legislative Council committee all the documents necessary to prove she did not receive a HK$500,000 personal donation from media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying during the Legco election in September 2012.

"Firstly, I did not receive any personal donation from Jimmy Lai during the 2012 election," Mo said yesterday. "Secondly, I have [already] declared exactly what I received for campaign funding."

Legco candidates are required to declare the sums raised for their election campaigns and disclose the source of any donation over HK$1,000.

Mo submitted records of her personal income for the financial year starting April 2012 and bank transfers related to campaign funds to the Legco Committee on Members' Interests yesterday. More documents could be provided upon request, she said.

She said that her campaign was mostly funded by a HK$540,000 donation from the Civic Party and HK$500,000 from her husband, Philip Bowring, a columnist for the South China Morning Post.

Mo showed reporters bank transaction records displaying her husband's contribution. She added that Bowring had not taken any money from a third party on her behalf.