Mark Clifford and Gordon Crovitz, senior officials at Next Digital, filed a complaint against the global accounting firm. They allege BDO enabled rights violations by providing essential services to Hong Kong authorities. The case casts more than a shadow on the "assistance" the company provided to the government in muzzling critical voices.

Hong Kong (AsiaNews) – Two former directors of Next Digital have filed a lawsuit against BDO, accusing the global accounting firm of helping Hong Kong authorities liquidate the companies founded by Jimmy Lai, a Christian and pro-democracy activist jailed since 31 December 2020.

In addition to refocusing attention on the imprisoned tycoon and the growing repression against press freedom in the former British colony, the move is aimed at shedding light on the "external" support certain companies, agencies and bodies give to Hong Kong (and Chinese) authorities in cracking down on critical voices.

At the end of 2021, a court ordered the liquidation of Next Digital Limited, the parent company of the Apple Daily, which Lai had founded in 1990. For a long time, it was the largest media company in Hong Kong.

For the past three years, the company has been controlled by directors appointed by the authorities. The court order came after police raided the pro-democracy newspaper's newsroom and froze HK million of Next Digital assets in June 2021.

Lai was indicted under the controversial national security law imposed by Beijing and is still on trial for sedition and collusion with foreign countries.

According to the Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP), Mark Clifford and Gordon Crovitz, both ex-directors of Next Digital, filed a complaint with the British government last December, alleging in a 32-page document that “BDO has enabled [human rights] abuses by providing essential relevant services to the Hong Kong government”.

In addition, Clifford, a former editor-in-chief of the South China Morning Post, and Crovitz, a former publisher with The Wall Street Journal, said in the document that they had to leave Hong Kong because of the risk of arrest by the city’s national security authorities.

The two explained that the local branch of BDO, a UK-based global accounting firm, and Clement Chan, its branch’s managing director for assurance, “acted as a quasi-governmental agency at the behest of the [Hong Kong government], with no judicial oversight.”

In July 2021, not long after several raids and arrests, which resulted in the freezing of Next Digital’s assets, Clement Chan, who has chaired the city's Consumer Council since 2022, was tasked by Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary Paul Chan to investigate Next Digital's financial affairs.

In September of that year, Clement Chan submitted an interim report to the finance chief, who cited the "public interest" to order the liquidation of Next Digital.

Clifford and Crovitz claim that by taking on the role of controllers and liquidators, Chan and BDO violated the rules set by the intergovernmental Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

In their view, BDO “failed to abstain from improper involvement in political activities” by acting instead as an inspector of Next Digital’s financial status.

Clement Chan, quoted in a Reuters report, said his role was a "personal appointment" by the finance chief under the city's Companies Ordinance. He has declined to respond to HKFP’s questions.

Chan's appointment as an inspector of Next Digital has been extended several times, with the latest six-month extension announced in July.

Meanwhile, in a written email, a spokesperson for BDO Global said the company "cannot provide any further information" due to confidentiality obligations with regards to the proceedings in the UK.

In addition to creating one of the most illustrious and appreciated newspapers in terms of independence and seriousness, at least until it was shut down by Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing authorities, Jimmy Lai is also famous as a prominent figure in the city's Catholic community.

He has been in prison for over three and a half years, supported by his Christian faith.

His trial, which has been dragging on for months, has provided Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing authorities with an excuse to accuse anyone or any initiative in favour democracy in Hong Kong of foreign collusion, however grotesque the charges may be.

• hong kong
• united kingdom
• next digital limited
• jimmy lai
• prison
• trial
• liquidation
• daily apple