Whistle-blower Jason Poon and wife charged over HK$6 million Covid-19 loan fraud

Hong Kong businessman Jason Poon and his wife have been charged with defrauding a government financing scheme for businesses out of HK$6 million during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the South China Morning Post. Poon, 56, and his 54-year-old wife were arrested in March and charged with conspiracy to defraud and money laundering.

The couple, both out on bail, and four company employees were accused of submitting fake sales records and "augmented" salary records between April and June 2021 to meet application requirements for the SME Financing Guarantee Scheme. The scheme, launched in 2011 and extended in 2020-21, provided a special 100 per cent loan guarantee to help businesses cope with cash-flow problems during the pandemic.

Poon, whose mask manufacturing company Lockill Biochemical was the subject of a whistle-blowing account in 2018 that led to the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry, is set to appear in Kowloon Court on Monday.

Brief written by urgent.news from South China Morning Post - Hong Kong's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.