Hong Kong student jailed for laundering HK$600,000 from fundraising platform used to help arrested protesters
- Yu Yan-yuk, who was 17 at the time, sent to prison for 16 months after conviction on money laundering charges
- District Court found Yu handled the cash as volunteer for Spark Alliance HK, a fundraising platform for helping arrested or jailed activists
A 22-year-old Chinese University of Hong Kong student was on Wednesday jailed for laundering almost HK$600,000 (US$76,620) from a fundraising platform used to help protesters arrested during the anti-government unrest in 2019.
Deputy District Judge Ko Wai-hung sentenced Yu Yan-yuk to 16 months behind bars for handling funds as a volunteer for Spark Alliance HK, a platform originally set up after the 2016 Mong Kok riot, to help arrested or jailed activists.
Ko said Yu had made 23 deposits and more than 90 withdrawals from his bank account over a six-month period between June and December 2019, during the anti-government protests, and handled about HK$585,000 related to Spark Alliance HK.
“The laundering period and the amount involved is relatively small and short compared with similar cases, and there are no elements of cross-border money laundering,” Ko said.
He added there was no evidence to show that the laundered cash was related to criminal activity, or that Yu handled the money despite knowing it was related to criminal offences – but that these were not mitigating factors.
