HONG KONG, Feb 26, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai won an appeal on Thursday over a 2022 fraud conviction, days after a court jailed him on separate national security charges. The ruling was a surprise win for Lai, the 78-year-old founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, who was sentenced to 20 years behind bars this month on collusion charges under a Beijing-imposed national security law. The fraud case grew out of a contractual dispute and was unrelated to the charges he faced under the security law. This was in breach of the terms of the lease Apple Daily signed with a government company and amounted to fraud, prosecutors said. Former Apple Daily executive Wong Wai-keung was also charged in the same case and jailed for 21 months.

Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha February 26, 2026 03:01 UTC