Court clears Jimmy Lai of fraud as government slams him for ‘exploiting resources’

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 prosecution had not established why the former media boss and another executive from the paper’s parent company should be held criminally liable.

Lai, 78, had stood trial on two counts of fraud after being accused of concealing the operations of Dico Consultants at the now-defunct tabloid’s Tseung Kwan O headquarters for more than two decades in breach of its land lease conditions.

Wong Wai-keung, a chief administrative officer at Next Digital, was jailed for 21 months.

While Lai appealed to overturn his sentence and conviction, Wong only sought to overturn the latter. Lai and Wong did not attend court on Thursday.