Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai jailed for more than five years on fraud charge

Pro-democracy Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai has been charged with fraud and sentenced to five years and nine months in prison.

The 75-year-old billionaire was convicted on Saturday, of two counts of fraud for covering up the operations of a private company, Dico Consultants Ltd, at the headquarters of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper, in what was ruled a breach of its land lease, Sky News reports.

First arrested and charged in December 2020, the fierce China critic has served 20 months for unauthorised assemblies during mass pro-democracy protests in 2019. Nine others served jail time or suspended sentences.

Lai was the head of Next Digital, the parent company of Apple Daily which was shut down in June 2021 following a police raid. Wong Wai-keung, 61, another Next Digital executive, was found guilty of fraud and jailed for 21 months.

A judgement written by District Court Judge Stanley Chan wrote that Lai had "acted under the protective umbrella of a media organization". He added that the prosecution of a media tycoon "wasn't equivalent to an attack on press freedom".

The prosecution said the newspaper could only be used for "publishing and printing" without prior approval from the operator, due to its lease conditions on a plot of government land. Acknowledging much of the prosecution's case, Lai's sentence was reduced by three months.

Governments in the west, including the United States, have expressed concern about Lai's plight and condemned what they call a broader deterioration in protection for human rights and fundamental freedoms under a China-imposed National Security Law.