https://www.scmp.com/rss/56503/feed Next Digital (formerly Next Media) was founded by high profile businessman Jimmy Lai, known for his support for democracy and criticism of China. It introduced tabloid-style journalism into Hong Kong and Taiwan, with the hugely successful Apple Daily. The group made a rare misstep by entering Taiwan’s saturated broadcasting market. In October 2012 it agreed to sell its loss-making Taiwan TV unit and to terminate its video-on-demand (VOD) services, but the deal fell through in March 2013. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Brian Wong Brian Wong The Hong Kong government is seeking to confiscate HK$56.5 million (US$7.2 million) from former media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying’s bank accounts and all of the shares in his 17 companies after he was jailed for 20 years under the national security law, court documents show. The secretary for justice applied to the High Court earlier this month to seize Lai’s assets linked to three conspiracies to instigate foreign sanctions and incite public hatred towards the authorities in 2019 and 2020. The... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3350893/hong-kong-seeks-seize-hk565-million-17-companies-jailed-jimmy-lai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3350893/hong-kong-seeks-seize-hk565-million-17-companies-jailed-jimmy-lai?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Apr 2026 10:35:16 +0000 Fiona Chow Fiona Chow A Hong Kong court has dropped a charge against the former financial chief of Jimmy Lai Chee-ying’s flagship media company after he testified for the prosecution against his ex-employer in a fraud trial. The ruling came after the Court of Appeal last week quashed Lai’s fraud conviction for operating a consultancy office from the premises of his now-defunct tabloid newspaper, Apple Daily, finding that the prosecution had failed to prove that the media mogul had made a “false representation” or was... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3348102/charge-dropped-against-ex-apple-daily-executive-who-turned-prosecution-witness?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3348102/charge-dropped-against-ex-apple-daily-executive-who-turned-prosecution-witness?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Mar 2026 06:33:33 +0000 Danny Mok Danny Mok The founder of an independent bookstore in Hong Kong and three staff have been arrested for selling a biography of former media boss Jimmy Lai Chee‑ying and other publications deemed seditious by authorities, the South China Morning Post has learned. Pong Yat-ming, who founded Book Punch in 2020 in Sham Shui Po, was detained along with three female employees. They face accusations of selling seditious publications and breaching the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, a source said on... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3347759/hong-kong-bookstore-owner-3-staff-held-selling-jimmy-lai-biography?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3347759/hong-kong-bookstore-owner-3-staff-held-selling-jimmy-lai-biography?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Mar 2026 14:48:56 +0000 Connor Mycroft Connor Mycroft A Hong Kong appellate court has quashed Jimmy Lai Chee-ying’s fraud conviction for operating a consultancy office from his now-defunct tabloid-style newspaper, Apple Daily, finding that the prosecution had failed to prove the media mogul had made a “false representation” or could be held liable for concealment. In a judgment delivered on Thursday, the Court of Appeal ruled that although Apple Daily had breached its contract by allowing Dico Consultants to operate from its premises, the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3344665/ex-media-boss-jimmy-lai-wins-appeal-over-fraud-conviction?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3344665/ex-media-boss-jimmy-lai-wins-appeal-over-fraud-conviction?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Feb 2026 02:29:07 +0000 Emily Hung Emily Hung Former Hong Kong media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying’s “rabid hatred” of the Communist Party of China has led him down a “thorny path”, according to the judges who found him guilty on three counts of national security offences. The 855-page full judgment released on Monday started with the “rags-to-riches” success story of Lai, but was overshadowed by criticism, particularly regarding the credibility of his evidence. Born in Guangzhou in 1947, Lai smuggled himself into Hong Kong at the age of 12,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3336529/jimmy-lais-rabid-hatred-party-led-him-down-thorny-path-hong-kong-court?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3336529/jimmy-lais-rabid-hatred-party-led-him-down-thorny-path-hong-kong-court?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Dec 2025 14:19:37 +0000 Brian Wong Brian Wong Jimmy Lai Chee-ying’s lawyers have asked Hong Kong judges hearing his national security trial to discard prosecutors’ evidence that the tabloid founder devised an anti-China lobbying strategy, saying the witness making the allegation was an “admitted serial liar”. Defence lawyers on Wednesday wrapped up their closing arguments at West Kowloon Court for the former media boss’s national security trial, in which Lai is contesting charges of conspiracy to print seditious articles and collude with... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3323369/jimmy-lais-lawyers-ask-hong-kong-judges-discard-testimony-serial-liar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3323369/jimmy-lais-lawyers-ask-hong-kong-judges-discard-testimony-serial-liar?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 Aug 2025 10:00:56 +0000 Former media boss and opposition activist Jimmy Lai Chee-ying took to the witness stand for the first time on Wednesday in his high-profile national security trial, admitting he had donated money to local and overseas groups but denying that he used those connections to manipulate foreign policies on Hong Kong and mainland China. Beijing rebuffed criticism by Western politicians of Lai’s prosecution, branding him as a “pawn of anti-China forces” as the trial of the owner of the now-defunct Apple... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3287441/hong-kongs-jimmy-lai-admits-donating-money-overseas-groups-denies-having-agenda?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3287441/hong-kongs-jimmy-lai-admits-donating-money-overseas-groups-denies-having-agenda?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Nov 2024 16:14:33 +0000 Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying had the final say on Apple Daily’s editorial direction, a former senior executive testified on Thursday, pushing back against contentions the mogul only handled the now-defunct tabloid’s management. Chan Pui-man, an ex-associate publisher with the paper, told West Kowloon Court that Lai was “rather assertive” at times when he heard opposing ideas at his regular lunchtime conferences with Apple Daily staff. “So, in the end, we had to see how Mr Lai set... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3253727/final-say-apple-dailys-editorial-direction-rested-hong-kong-tycoon-jimmy-lai-court-hears?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3253727/final-say-apple-dailys-editorial-direction-rested-hong-kong-tycoon-jimmy-lai-court-hears?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Feb 2024 15:17:49 +0000 A top aide of Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai Chee-ying has denied having been persuaded to become a prosecution witness during a “lengthy” meeting with a police sergeant without the justice department’s approval. Cheung Kim-hung, defendant and former publisher of the now-defunct Apple Daily tabloid, told judges on Thursday he decided to testify against his former boss to “tell the truth” after his bail was denied in November 2021. He said he only chatted about “life generally” with the police... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3250633/aide-hong-kong-media-mogul-jimmy-lai-denies-he-turned-prosecution-witness-after-meeting-police?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3250633/aide-hong-kong-media-mogul-jimmy-lai-denies-he-turned-prosecution-witness-after-meeting-police?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 Feb 2024 15:59:19 +0000 Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai Chee-ying’s lawyers have accused a former top aide of tailoring his court testimony to implicate the tycoon in exchange for a shorter sentence for his role in a national security case involving the now-defunct Apple Daily tabloid. The defence on Wednesday took aim at a sworn statement submitted by ex-publisher and defendant-turned-prosecution witness Cheung Kim-hung in his failed attempt to secure bail after his prosecution in June 2021 under the Beijing-imposed... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3250426/hong-kong-tycoon-jimmy-lais-lawyers-accuse-ex-top-aide-tailoring-testimony-implicate-apple-daily?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3250426/hong-kong-tycoon-jimmy-lais-lawyers-accuse-ex-top-aide-tailoring-testimony-implicate-apple-daily?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 31 Jan 2024 08:25:10 +0000 The ex-publisher of the now-folded Apple Daily tabloid can start giving evidence against his former boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying before the Hong Kong media mogul’s leading counsel returns from a two-week absence, the defence has told the tycoon’s national security trial. Discussions about arrangements for the 80-day trial were brought up in court on Tuesday after the presiding judges allowed Robert Pang Yiu-hung SC, who leads a team of six barristers representing Lai, to take temporary leave to... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3247824/major-prosecution-witness-can-start-testifying-against-ex-boss-jimmy-lai-without-tycoons-top-defence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3247824/major-prosecution-witness-can-start-testifying-against-ex-boss-jimmy-lai-without-tycoons-top-defence?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Jan 2024 10:35:03 +0000 This is the 14th instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades. A talented actress who rose through the ranks at Hong Kong broadcaster TVB alongside the likes of Maggie Cheung Man-yuk and Carina Lau Ka-ling, Yammie Lam Kit-ying suffered a dramatic career decline in the mid-1990s. In 2018 she was found dead at home aged just 55. Lam’s story was a tragic one, like those of the most notable characters she played on the small screen, and helped shine... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3245820/other-woman-difficult-how-yammie-lams-screen-career-soared-tabloid-gossip-and-personal-blows-brought?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3245820/other-woman-difficult-how-yammie-lams-screen-career-soared-tabloid-gossip-and-personal-blows-brought?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Dec 2023 23:15:09 +0000 Next Digital, the media company founded by jailed tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, will be delisted from the Hong Kong stock exchange on January 12, a year and a half after the closure of its flagship newspaper Apple Daily. The listing committee of the stock exchange decided last month to cancel the listing status of the company while the firm, which is now in the process of liquidation, has no intention to appeal the decision, according to a filing to the exchange released on Wednesday night. As... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3205654/jailed-tycoon-jimmy-lais-next-digital-publisher-apple-daily-be-delisted-hong-kong-stock-exchange?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3205654/jailed-tycoon-jimmy-lais-next-digital-publisher-apple-daily-be-delisted-hong-kong-stock-exchange?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Jan 2023 05:17:42 +0000 Beijing has hit out at the United States for its attempt to “whitewash criminals” after Washington politicians condemned the “grossly unjust outcome” of Jimmy Lai Chee-ying’s latest trial, where the media tycoon was jailed for almost six years for fraud offences. The latest war of words between the two countries was sparked by US Department of State spokesman Ned Price, who on Sunday appealed to the central government to respect freedom of expression, including for the press, in Hong Kong in the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3202891/china-and-us-clash-again-after-media-tycoon-jimmy-lai-convicted-fraud-hong-kong-court?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3202891/china-and-us-clash-again-after-media-tycoon-jimmy-lai-convicted-fraud-hong-kong-court?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 Dec 2022 09:14:25 +0000 Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying has been jailed for 5 years and nine months and fined HK$2 million (US$256,850) for breaching land lease terms in the “deliberate concealment” of a consultancy firm at the offices of his now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper. The District Court on Saturday ordered Lai, 75, to pay the fine in three months and banned him from managing companies for eight years. Prosecutors are also seeking the confiscation of the publishing mogul’s illegal gains. Wong... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3202808/hong-kong-tycoon-jimmy-lai-jailed-5-years-and-9-months-fined-hk2-million-fraud-case-over-deliberate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3202808/hong-kong-tycoon-jimmy-lai-jailed-5-years-and-9-months-fined-hk2-million-fraud-case-over-deliberate?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Dec 2022 03:18:22 +0000 Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying could face a 10-year ban on the direction and management of companies after his conviction for fraud over improper use of office space at his now-closed Apple Daily newspaper, a judge warned on Thursday. Judge Stanley Chan Kwong-chi was speaking after pleas in mitigation for Lai and Wong Wai-keung, a former senior executive of the paper’s parent company Next Digital, were heard in the District Court. He said that the publishing mogul could face the ban... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3200883/hong-kong-media-tycoon-jimmy-lai-warned-he-could-face-management-ban-after-fraud-convictions-over?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3200883/hong-kong-media-tycoon-jimmy-lai-warned-he-could-face-management-ban-after-fraud-convictions-over?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 24 Nov 2022 12:50:52 +0000 Six former senior executives of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper have admitted to conspiring with their ex-boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying in seeking international sanctions on Beijing and Hong Kong officials in breach of the city’s national security law. The High Court on Tuesday recorded the first convictions of news editors and media directors under the Beijing-imposed legislation since it took effect in June 2020. The six employees, each flanked by two prison officers in the dock, pleaded... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3200501/hong-kong-national-security-law-6-ex-apple-daily-staff-plead-guilty-conspiracy-collude-foreign?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3200501/hong-kong-national-security-law-6-ex-apple-daily-staff-plead-guilty-conspiracy-collude-foreign?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Nov 2022 03:45:19 +0000 Beijing has stepped up a war of words with the United States as three high-level mainland Chinese agencies accused Washington of smear tactics over Hong Kong’s adherence to the rule of law and its national security legislation after the conviction of media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying for fraud. The State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) said on Thursday Washington’s criticism was “shameless”. The commissioner’s office of the Chinese foreign ministry in Hong Kong added the US... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3197514/beijing-launches-counter-attack-after-us-slams-hong-kong-media-tycoon-jimmy-lais-fraud-conviction?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3197514/beijing-launches-counter-attack-after-us-slams-hong-kong-media-tycoon-jimmy-lais-fraud-conviction?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Oct 2022 16:36:49 +0000 Beijing has hit back at a joint statement by several United States senators condemning the conviction of Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying in a recent fraud case, accusing them of attempting to smear the rule of law in the city. The office of the Chinese foreign ministry’s commissioner in Hong Kong on Wednesday also described the US politicians’ support for Lai as further proof he had colluded with foreign forces, as well as exposing their “sinister intentions” to destroy the city’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3197324/beijing-hits-back-us-politicians-war-words-over-fraud-conviction-hong-kong-media-tycoon-jimmy-lai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3197324/beijing-hits-back-us-politicians-war-words-over-fraud-conviction-hong-kong-media-tycoon-jimmy-lai?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Oct 2022 10:40:02 +0000 Jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying is set to spend more time behind bars after he was found guilty of defrauding a government-owned enterprise over the unauthorised operation of a consultancy firm at the offices of his now-defunct Apple Daily tabloid-style newspaper. A District Court judge on Tuesday convicted Lai and a former Next Digital executive of fraud after finding the pair’s “deliberate” concealment of the private firm went beyond what would typically be a civil breach of... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3197163/hong-kong-media-tycoon-jimmy-lai-found-guilty-fraud-office-lease-case?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3197163/hong-kong-media-tycoon-jimmy-lai-found-guilty-fraud-office-lease-case?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 25 Oct 2022 07:01:27 +0000 Jailed Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying has lost a legal bid to block police from inspecting journalistic articles stored in his mobile phones in preparation for his coming national security trial. A High Court judge hand-picked by the city’s leader to oversee national security proceedings ruled on Tuesday that police were entitled to seize journalistic materials under common law in light of “paramount” public interest, as the Beijing-decreed national security legislation conferred... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3190645/hong-kong-national-security-law-jailed-media-tycoon?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3190645/hong-kong-national-security-law-jailed-media-tycoon?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Aug 2022 03:23:25 +0000 Jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying cannot be held liable for a criminal offence over a civil breach of contract allegedly stemming from the Apple Daily newspaper’s misuse of its Hong Kong offices, defence counsel has contended in the closing stages of the mogul’s fraud trial. Rounding up the defence’s arguments at the District Court on Wednesday, lawyers for Lai and a former Next Digital executive said the media company’s violation of land lease terms and the defendants’ failure to disclose... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3190048/hong-kong-media-tycoon-jimmy-lai-cannot-be-held-liable?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3190048/hong-kong-media-tycoon-jimmy-lai-cannot-be-held-liable?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Aug 2022 11:24:25 +0000 A former senior executive of the media group founded by jailed Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying has agreed to help prosecutors secure the mogul’s conviction in a fraud trial in exchange for his own personal freedom. Next Digital’s then chief financial officer and chief operating officer Royston Chow Tat-kuen turned against his former boss and colleague in the witness box on Monday after prosecutors let him off the hook on the condition that he assist in the pair’s prosecution. Chow, 64,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3177941/former-next-digital-senior-executive-turns-against-ex?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3177941/former-next-digital-senior-executive-turns-against-ex?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 May 2022 10:45:26 +0000 The media group founded by jailed tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying has abandoned its claim for the return of privileged materials seized by national security police in a high-profile operation almost two years ago, paving the way for Hong Kong authorities to use further evidence against the defunct Apple Daily and its former executives in ongoing criminal proceedings. The District Court heard on Thursday that Next Digital’s liquidators dropped the High Court lawsuit last month, enabling police to... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3176684/prosecutors-could-amass-more-evidence-against-jailed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3176684/prosecutors-could-amass-more-evidence-against-jailed?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 May 2022 14:08:03 +0000 Three companies affiliated with the defunct Apple Daily have been slapped with a sedition charge under colonial-era legislation after prosecutors accused them of violating Hong Kong’s national security law by conspiring to collude with foreign forces. Apple Daily Limited, Apple Daily Printing Limited and AD Internet Limited were all previously charged alongside Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and six former executives over an alleged plot to seek international sanctions or hostile... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3166556/hong-kong-prosecutors-slap-3-apple-daily-affiliated?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3166556/hong-kong-prosecutors-slap-3-apple-daily-affiliated?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 10 Feb 2022 11:29:56 +0000 A Hong Kong businessman who wants to buy Taiwanese news website Apple Online said the potential acquisition did not involve any funding from mainland China. Kenny Wee, owner of Avengers Limited, one of the potential buyers of the Taipei-based site, told the news website on Friday he was the sole owner of the company and would not transfer a stake to anyone outside Taiwan. This is not Wee’s first tilt at buying the site – he tried to buy it and Hong Kong-based newspaper Apple Daily from parent... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3163462/no-money-mainland-china-behind-hong-kong-bid-taiwan-based-apple?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3163462/no-money-mainland-china-behind-hong-kong-bid-taiwan-based-apple?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 14 Jan 2022 13:00:27 +0000 Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and six former senior employees of his now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper have been slapped with a new sedition charge while awaiting trial under the Beijing-imposed national security law. Prosecutors on Tuesday added the fresh count to the seven defendants’ indictment as they returned to West Kowloon Court for another pretrial hearing before their case is transferred to the higher Court of First Instance to be heard. The new charge under the Crimes... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3161304/hong-kong-prosecutors-hit-tycoon-jimmy-lai-6-former?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3161304/hong-kong-prosecutors-hit-tycoon-jimmy-lai-6-former?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Dec 2021 11:07:53 +0000 Taiwanese news website Apple Online is set to be sold, with its owner being wound up after sister Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily closed during a crackdown under the city’s new national security law. The liquidator for Next Digital, the media group founded by jailed Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, had been negotiating with potential buyers, Apple Online said on Monday. The Hong Kong operation closed in June after executives and journalists were arrested and financial assets frozen for... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3161195/taiwans-sister-website-former-hong-kong-newspaper-apple-daily?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3161195/taiwans-sister-website-former-hong-kong-newspaper-apple-daily?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Dec 2021 12:16:31 +0000 A Hong Kong court has ordered the winding up of Next Digital, a media group founded by jailed tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, following a government petition. Master Jack Wong Kin-tong of the High Court made the order on Wednesday against the parent company of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, with Kenny Tam King-ching and Man King-shing of Kenny Tam & Co staying on as provisional liquidators. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po had petitioned to bring the 40-year-old firm to an end on the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3159746/hong-kong-court-orders-winding-jimmy-lais-next-digital?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3159746/hong-kong-court-orders-winding-jimmy-lais-next-digital?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Dec 2021 02:14:49 +0000 Hong Kong’s audit regulator will start announcing investigations in cases it views as of “high public interest”, its chairman said. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) previously only announced the results of its investigations, but has in recent months made the public aware that it was initiating probes into the financial reports and auditors of companies such as China Evergrande Group, Next Digital and Convoy Global Holdings. “If we are conducting an investigation in a case that involves... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3156679/hong-kongs-audit-watchdog-start-announcing-investigations?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3156679/hong-kongs-audit-watchdog-start-announcing-investigations?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Nov 2021 02:00:16 +0000 A former executive of the now defunct Apple Daily newspaper was denied bail in his national security law trial after Hong Kong prosecutors cited remarks by the US State Department and a British official as evidence of foreign collusion. Reasoning for the decision handed down by the High Court on Wednesday detailed prosecutors’ objection to temporarily releasing former publisher Cheung Kim-hung due to what they characterised as his “close association with the USA and foreign political groups”,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3155573/hong-kong-national-security-law-ex-apple-daily-publisher?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3155573/hong-kong-national-security-law-ex-apple-daily-publisher?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Nov 2021 10:51:51 +0000 The High Court has appointed two provisional liquidators to safeguard the interests of Next Digital, a media group founded by jailed tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, pending the determination of a winding-up petition by the Hong Kong government. Madam Justice Linda Chan Ching-fan on Friday granted an application from Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po to appoint Sammy Koo Chi-sum and Clifford Tsui Chi-chiu of Ernst & Young Transactions, ahead of the petition hearing scheduled on December 15. The... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3152539/hong-kong-court-appoints-provisional-liquidators?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3152539/hong-kong-court-appoints-provisional-liquidators?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 Oct 2021 12:09:41 +0000 Six former Apple Daily executives could be jailed for life if found guilty of breaking the national security law in Hong Kong after prosecutors applied to move the trial to the High Court. The defendants appeared at West Kowloon Court on Thursday for a third pretrial hearing over the charge of colluding with foreign forces, three months after the tabloid-style newspaper published its last edition amid a national security law crackdown. The former senior executives are editor-in-chief Ryan Law... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3150764/hong-kong-national-security-law-6-former-apple-daily?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3150764/hong-kong-national-security-law-6-former-apple-daily?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Sep 2021 11:03:00 +0000 The Hong Kong government has gone to court to wind up Next Digital, a media group founded by jailed tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, arguing that folding up the parent company of the now-defunct Apple Daily tabloid-style newspaper is in the public interest. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po filed a petition to the Court of First Instance to liquidate the 40-year-old firm under powers granted by the Companies Ordinance and a hearing was scheduled for December 15, the government said on... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3150604/hong-kong-government-moves-wind-jimmy-lais-next-digital?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3150604/hong-kong-government-moves-wind-jimmy-lais-next-digital?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Sep 2021 11:29:30 +0000 A special inspector appointed by Hong Kong’s government today raided Next Digital Limited’s office to seize the company’s financial records as he ratcheted up his investigation of possible fraud at the parent of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper. The search and seizure by the inspector, Clement Chan Kam-wing, was authorised by a warrant issued yesterday by Hong Kong’s Eastern Magistrate Court. The warrant was needed as every member of Next Digital’s senior management team and board of... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3150356/hong-kongs-special-inspector-seize-next-digitals-financial?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3150356/hong-kongs-special-inspector-seize-next-digitals-financial?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Sep 2021 02:38:49 +0000 Hong Kong’s High Court has ruled against jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying in finding that the Security Bureau can restrict his voting rights as the major shareholder of Next Digital under the national security law. But the court stopped short of saying whether Lai should be granted the limited right to vote only on the issue of winding up the media company, saying he should first make an application to the bureau. Jimmy Lai asks court to restore his voting rights at Next Digital Mr... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3149157/hong-kongs-high-court-adjourns-jimmy-lai-application?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3149157/hong-kongs-high-court-adjourns-jimmy-lai-application?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Sep 2021 08:49:22 +0000 Hong Kong’s security chief has ordered an operations freeze at the Apple Daily printing house in Tseung Kwan O, as a national security investigation continues into Next Digital, the parent company of the now-defunct newspaper founded by jailed tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying. Chris Tang Ping-keung’s update on the National Security Department investigation on Wednesday followed a court order sought by the landlord of the tabloid-style newspaper’s headquarters to take back the premises. Tang said he... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3148867/national-security-law-hong-kong-security-chief-orders?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3148867/national-security-law-hong-kong-security-chief-orders?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Sep 2021 10:40:47 +0000 Hong Kong authorities have hit back at media firm Next Digital, founded by jailed tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, accusing it of trying to shift the blame for its operational decisions and “maliciously smearing” the national security law. The Security Bureau on Monday also accused the firm, which is the parent of the defunct Apple Daily newspaper, of attempting to make law enforcement authorities a scapegoat after the company said a crackdown under the legislation made it impossible to continue... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3147787/national-security-law-hong-kong-authorities-hit-back?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3147787/national-security-law-hong-kong-authorities-hit-back?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Sep 2021 17:02:16 +0000 The remaining directors of Next Digital, founded by jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, have tendered their resignations and called for the company’s liquidation to pay former staff and creditors after a crackdown by authorities made it impossible to continue operating. In a notice filed with Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, board chairman Ip Yut-kin announced that all directors of Next Digital, parent company of the defunct Apple Daily newspaper, would resign with effect from 11.59pm on... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3147659/national-security-law-remaining-next-digital-directors-quit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3147659/national-security-law-remaining-next-digital-directors-quit?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Sep 2021 15:19:46 +0000 Jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying was the person pulling the strings behind a multimillion-dollar conspiracy to draw international sanctions against the Beijing and Hong Kong governments, prosecutors have alleged at the national security trial of two activists who admitted to colluding with foreign forces. The High Court heard on Thursday that Lai and his assistant, Mark Simon, had directly invested at least HK$13.7 million (US$1.7 million) in a scheme aimed at forcing the local government... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3145577/national-security-law-hong-kong-activist-jailed-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3145577/national-security-law-hong-kong-activist-jailed-after?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Aug 2021 04:09:19 +0000 Hong Kong’s accounting regulator has started an investigation into the financial statements and two auditors of Next Digital, the publisher of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper. The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said on Wednesday that its investigation will focus on whether Next Digital’s financial statements for the two and a half years up to September 2020 contained any misleading public information. The FRC will also investigate the work of its auditors – Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu in... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3145519/hong-kongs-accounting-watchdog-investigate-apple-daily?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3145519/hong-kongs-accounting-watchdog-investigate-apple-daily?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Aug 2021 12:17:00 +0000 Hong Kong media group Next Digital is to vacate its headquarters in the Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate, amid allegations the group had improperly sublet some space. In a notice filed to Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing on Monday, Next Digital, which is owned by jailed tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and was the parent company of the Apple Daily newspaper, said it had issued a notice to Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation to offer to surrender the lease in respect of the former... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3144422/hong-kong-parent-company-closed-apple-daily-newspaper?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3144422/hong-kong-parent-company-closed-apple-daily-newspaper?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Aug 2021 13:15:38 +0000 Hong Kong’s government this week appointed Clement Chan Kam-wing of accounting firm BDO as a special inspector to look into the financial affairs of Next Digital, the publisher of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper. It marks the first time in 22 years the government has invoked a clause in the city’s Companies Ordinance that empowers the financial secretary to order an investigation into a public company for misconducts and intent to cheat creditors. Several such appointments have been made... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3143262/peregrine-next-digital-hong-kong-invokes-rarely-used-powers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3143262/peregrine-next-digital-hong-kong-invokes-rarely-used-powers?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Jul 2021 03:00:17 +0000 A top Beijing official overseeing Hong Kong affairs has urged local politicians to win the public’s trust by delivering results in several policy areas every year that residents can “see, touch and feel”. Xia Baolong, director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, also praised city authorities for their national security crackdown on Apple Daily, the tabloid-style newspaper known for its anti-Beijing stance that ceased publication in late June after 26 years in... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3143250/top-beijing-official-overseeing-hong-kong-orders-local?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3143250/top-beijing-official-overseeing-hong-kong-orders-local?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 Jul 2021 13:59:56 +0000 The former head of Hong Kong’s securities watchdog said he supported the appointment of a special inspector to investigate fraud allegations and corporate governance issues at Next Digital, the publisher of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, as it shows the government is determined to protect the interests of investors and creditors and uphold the market’s credibility. The appointment will not have any conflict of interest with the Securities and Futures Commission, which on Wednesday... https://www.scmp.com/business/investor-relations/article/3143018/hong-kong-watchdogs-former-head-brokers-support?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/investor-relations/article/3143018/hong-kong-watchdogs-former-head-brokers-support?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Jul 2021 09:50:52 +0000 Hong Kong authorities have appointed a high-powered inspector to investigate the finances of Next Digital, accusing the parent company of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper of engaging in illegal and fraudulent activities. Announcing that the government was taking such a step under the Companies Ordinance for the first time in two decades, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po on Wednesday said that the investigation would be conducted by Clement Chan Kam-wing, accounting firm BDO’s managing... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3142883/hong-kong-appoints-investigator-probe-financial-affairs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3142883/hong-kong-appoints-investigator-probe-financial-affairs?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Jul 2021 10:16:46 +0000 Four former senior Apple Daily editorial employees detained under the national security law on Wednesday for allegedly colluding with foreign forces have been denied bail, despite offering to cut off any contact with the press and overseas politicians. West Kowloon Chief Magistrate Victor So Wai-tak, one of the handful of judicial officers hand-picked by the city’s leader to hear cases under the Beijing-imposed legislation, on Thursday rejected the bail applications made by the ex-staff members... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3142060/national-security-law-bail-denied-4-apple-daily-editorial?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3142060/national-security-law-bail-denied-4-apple-daily-editorial?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Jul 2021 05:14:28 +0000 Four more former senior employees of the now-closed Apple Daily were charged under Hong Kong’s national security law on Wednesday night. Police officers detained former associate publisher Chan Pui-man and ex-editorial writers Fung Wai-kong and Yeung Ching-kee when they answered bail following their arrest and release last month. The fourth suspect was former executive editor-in-chief Lam Man-chung, who was taken into custody by officers from the force’s National Security Department after... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3141901/national-security-law-list-apple-daily-arrests-grows?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3141901/national-security-law-list-apple-daily-arrests-grows?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Jul 2021 03:29:02 +0000 Next Digital, which stopped publishing its flagship newspaper Apple Daily last week, has reversed its announcement to cease operations just two days after telling staff that it would shut down on July 1. The troubled media company apologised to employees for the “wrong message” and said that it was still operating while it makes “personnel arrangements”, according to a Bloomberg report, which cited an internal memo. “Regarding the email dated on June 30 mentioning that the group would cease... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3139657/apple-daily-publisher-next-digital-says-it-not-ceasing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3139657/apple-daily-publisher-next-digital-says-it-not-ceasing?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Jul 2021 12:28:06 +0000 The European Parliament is considering a new resolution on Hong Kong in response to the city’s crackdown on the Apple Daily newspaper, which was consistently critical of the local government and Beijing before being forced to shut down. The move would represent the first action by a legislative body at the European Union over Apple Daily’s demise, after strong condemnation by the US and other Western countries. The newspaper printed its final edition last week after senior editors were arrested... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3139377/wake-apple-dailys-demise-european-parliament-considers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3139377/wake-apple-dailys-demise-european-parliament-considers?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 30 Jun 2021 21:12:20 +0000