Bank of China cited ‘commercial and administrative reasons’ for closing account of Hong Kong fugitive detained on mainland, family says
- Bank of China informed city fugitive Tang Kai-yin by a letter last month it had closed his account for ‘commercial and administrative reasons’
- The bank was last week accused of freezing the accounts of self-exiled former opposition lawmaker Ted Hui, his wife and his parents
The bank account of one of the 12 Hong Kong fugitives detained in mainland China while trying to flee to Taiwan was closed for what the company said were “commercial and administrative reasons”, according to his family.
The family of another detainee, meanwhile, said they received a letter purportedly written by him, asking them to “admit his wrongdoings in Hong Kong” on his behalf – a request lawyers said was impossible to keep under the city’s judicial system.
At a press conference on Saturday, the brother of fugitive Tang Kai-yin said the Bank of China informed Tang, a 30-year-old salesperson, by a letter last month that it had “closed” his account with a balance of about HK$20,000 (US$2,580).
“The letter said [the bank] had closed his account for commercial and administrative reasons. When I visited the bank and asked the staff the reason behind the action, they refused to elaborate,” Tang’s brother said. “They even rejected my request to withdraw the balance on his behalf.”