Whistleblower set to unravel extent of funding mess behind 'Occupy Central'

The audit committee formed by the University of Hong Kong Council failed to accurately track down all donations funneled through a civic group that processed funds for the unlawful occupation movement last year, according to a letter published on the front page of local Chinese-language newspaper Wen Wei Po.

The new allegations in relation to the "Occupy Central" campaign were made by an anonymous person who claimed to have handled the campaign's accounts in person. HSBC and a law firm with Bruce Liu Sing-lee as one of the partners were also thrown into question along with the HKU.

The letter was published in full on Thursday - two weeks away from the next HKU Council meeting, and a month away from the first anniversary of the illegal occupation blockades.

According to the letter penned by the anonymous correspondent, the "Occupy" organizers used an HSBC current account of Hong Kong Democratic Development Network (HKDDN) to process funds. The writer doubted if the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the bank regulator, had been aware of the potential breach of laundering law.

HKDDN is chaired by Reverend Chu Yiu-ming, one of the trio that initiated "Occupy".

Chu's group allegedly made out five checks to the HKU on Oct 7, 2013, Jan 29, 2014, Feb 18, 2014, Nov 17, 2014 and Dec 16, 2014.

The total amount was more than HK$2.41 million. The correspondent criticized the university for being unaware of the donors' link with "Occupy".

According to the HKU report on processing of donations in relation to "Occupy" organizer Benny Tai Yiu-ting, the Public Opinion Programme (POP) received HK$2.61 million for a series of activities.

The correspondent claimed the finding of the audit committee was inaccurate. The discrepancy of HK$200,000 was either a miscalculation or funds of origin unknown by the correspondent.

The writer of the letter also demanded the HKU Council continue investigating where the funds have ended up.

Benny Tai, who is also a HKU law professor, had purportedly received HK$779,000 from HKDDN between September 2013 and October 2014. The correspondent questioned the role of Johannes Chan Man-mun in this suspicious donation. Chan was the law faculty dean until June last year and is a candidate for pro-vice-chancellor of the HKU.

The correspondent objected to the potential promotion of Chan. Based on Chan's sharp political stance and open support for the "Occupy" movement, the correspondent was concerned about "where these few people are taking HKU to".

The HKU probe uncovered a lack of records on the partnership between Tai and the POP led by Albert Chung Ting-yiu. The correspondent had overheard Tai undermine the management by saying HKU Vice-Chancellor Peter Mathieson did not read Chinese and pro-vice-chancellors were ignorant of politics.

The letter also suggested the principal financial backer of HKDDN was a foreigner, and said the group spent hundreds of thousands on "top-notch" audio equipment.

The correspondent wrote that he chose to blow the lid off the money trail because he felt "deceived" by the three "Occupy" organizers, who had pledged full financial transparency. The correspondent promised to send new tips to the newspaper.

(HK Edition 08/14/2015 page6)