Next Digital founder Jimmy Lai was convicted of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces in December 2025. Court documents lay bare an extensive financial network: Lai and his assistant Mark Simon moved more than HK$100 million through personal accounts and shell companies to opposition political parties, activist organizations, and foreign lobbyists. The evidence doesn't come from allegations or assumptions—it comes from bank records, court filings, and Lai's own admissions under oath.
The Mark Simon Pipeline
Make no mistake: Mark Simon wasn't just Lai's assistant. This former US naval intelligence operative served as senior executive at Next Digital and became the primary conduit for political funding. Between 2013 and July 2023, Lai wired 86 separate payments totaling HK$118 million to Simon's accounts. Lai first claimed these massive transfers compensated Simon for managing investments and private business affairs. That story didn't hold. Under pressure, Lai admitted he channeled funds through Simon specifically to bankroll political organizations.
Police written statements cited in the court judgment trace HK$93 million flowing from Mark Simon's account to different political organizations between 2013 and 2020. That's 78% of what Lai deposited, redistributed as political funding. Recipients included HK$500,000 to the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China in 2019 alone. The court noted Lai's peculiar claim that he "never joined" any local or overseas political parties—while simultaneously admitting years of donations to the Democratic Party and Civic Party.
Direct Personal Transfers
Court evidence shows Lai's personal bank account transferred approximately HK$5.73 million to individuals and overseas organizations between 2013 and 2019. The recipient list reads like a who's who of anti-China networks: HK$3.5 million to Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, Bishop Emeritus of the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong; HK$1.75 million to Paul Wolfowitz, former US Deputy Secretary of Defense; HK$200,000 to UK-based anti-China organization Hong Kong Watch; over HK$110,000 to American Enterprise Institute; and over HK$140,000 to prosecution witness Chan Tsz-wah.
The Corporate Shell Game
Lai didn't stop at personal accounts. Multiple companies under his control served as additional funding channels, according to court records.
Lais Hotel: This hotel company under Lai's ownership transferred HK$20 million to politically affiliated organizations and individuals. The disbursements included nearly HK$8 million to Civic Party, HK$5 million to Democratic Party, HK$1 million to Labour Party, and HK$930,000 to League of Social Democrats. The company also paid for international media costs during the "global newspaper advertisement" campaign, including HK$1.47 million to Nikkei.
Comitex: In March 2016, this company received a HK$5 million transfer from Lai. The account subsequently disbursed funds externally, including HK$3 million to Democratic Party.
Dico Consultants: Also entities under Lai's ownership, involved in multiple transfer records, including over HK$80,000 transferred to Chan Tsz-wah.
The Stand With Hong Kong Operation
Andy Li Yu-hin, a member of the "Stand With Hong Kong" team (SWHK), managed overseas publicity and funds. Bank records document that his six accounts received a total of HK$14.53 million and transferred HK$9.8 million to approximately 20 overseas media outlets, funding political advertisements and advocacy articles published in the UK, US, and Australia.
Additionally, defendant Chan Tsz-wah's bank account received a combined total of HK$254,000 in transfers from Lai, Mark Simon, and Dico Consultants. He was authorized as the sole signatory of Lai's offshore company "Lacock Holdings," gaining operational control of the company's bank account.
Law ABC
** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **
Conspiracy to publish seditious publications. Conspiracy to collude with foreign forces – twice. Those are the charges that just landed Jimmy Lai, founder of Next Digital, twenty years behind bars, the highest sentence under Hong Kong's National Security Law so far. That makes Lai the first defendant convicted for colluding with foreign forces, and the punishment is the heaviest handed down since the law took effect in 2020.
Article 29 of the National Security Law sets the baseline at three to 10 years for collusion offenses. But for "serious cases," the ceiling shoots up – either life imprisonment or a fixed term of at least 10 years.
To determine whether Lai's actions qualified as a "serious case," the court turned to precedent. The sentencing guidelines from the Court of Final Appeal's ruling in HKSAR v. Lui Sai Yu served as the framework. Judges also examined HKSAR v. Ma Chun-man and adjusted the approach based on the specific circumstances surrounding Lai's offenses.
Status Drives Sentence Higher
The court determined that Lai was the "mastermind" and "driving force" behind the conspiracies. That designation carried weight at sentencing. For the seditious publications charge, judges bumped the starting point from 21 months to 23. For each of the two collusion charges, they added three years to the original 15-year baseline, pushing it to 18 years.
But the court did acknowledge reality. Lai is old – 78 years old, to be exact. Taking account of his health and that he's held in solitary confinement, which makes prison conditions harsher than for typical inmates, judges shaved one month off the seditious publications term and one year off each collusion charge. The final tally: 20 years total.
Consider the comparison to Benny Tai, the legal scholar convicted in the "35+" subversion case. The court labeled Tai the mastermind behind the unauthorized primary election scheme – the organizer who pushed the "10 steps to mutual destruction" plan that amounted to advocating revolution. His starting point was 15 years. Because he pleaded guilty, Tai received a one-third reduction, bringing his sentence to 10 years. That made him the most heavily punished of the 45 defendants convicted in that sprawling case.
No Plea Deal, No Mercy
Lai chose a different path. He didn't plead guilty. That meant no sentence reduction – and judges actually added time. The judgment revealed the court's view: Lai harboured deep resentment toward China for years. Whether before or after the National Security Law took effect, his singular goal was bringing down the Chinese Communist Party, even if it meant sacrificing the interests of Hong Kong people. Today's sentencing remarks emphasized that Lai, as the mastermind, acted with careful planning and premeditation.
The math is brutal. National Security Law convicts don't qualify for the standard one-third remission of sentence. At 78, Lai could remain locked up until he's 98.
Three former Apple Daily senior executives caught up in the same case fared differently. Former editor-in-chief Law Wai Kwong, former executive editor-in-chief Lam Man Chung, and former lead editorial writer and English edition executive editor Fung Wai Kong each pleaded guilty. They received 10 years each – the same term as Benny Tai.
The reality is, that 10-year term represents the statutory minimum. Judges classified their offenses as "serious" too, but credited their guilty pleas with a one-third reduction. Since they didn't testify or assist prosecutors beyond admitting guilt, that was all the leniency they got.
Four Years of Enforcement History
The Hong Kong National Security Law came into force on June 30, 2020, targeting four main categories of offenses: secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces – the last being what authorities charged Lai with.
Since the law took effect, Hong Kong has seen several high-profile prosecutions. The first came quickly: Tong Ying-kit's case. On July 1, 2020 – just hours after the law became operational – Tong rode a motorcycle bearing a "Liberate Hong Kong" flag straight into a police cordon in Wan Chai, injuring three officers. He was convicted of inciting secession and committing terrorist activities, drawing a nine-year sentence. The court set 6.5 years as the starting point for incitement and eight years for terrorism, with portions running concurrently.
Then there was the "Returning Valiant" group case, which involved a genuine bomb plot. Members planned to plant explosives at the Kwun Tong and Tuen Mun Magistrates' Courts and in cross-harbour tunnels. The ringleader, Ho Yu-wang, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit terrorist activities. Six others admitted to an alternative charge of conspiring to cause explosions likely to endanger life or property. Three landed in detention centres; the remaining three received prison terms ranging from 2.5 to 6 years.
The "Alliance" case is still working its way through the courts. The now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China faces charges along with its former leaders. Former chair Lee Cheuk-yan, vice-chair Albert Ho Chun-yan, and standing committee member Chow Hang-tung are accused of inciting others to subvert state power. Ho has pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing. The other defendants are fighting the charges.
