More Account Suspensions for Exiled Hong Kong Dissident

Self-exiled Hong Kong dissident Ted Hui, who was recently spotlighted over frozen accounts at HSBC, has faced even more pressure from the British lender which allegedly canceled credit cards and «unlawfully embezzled» his funds without explanation.

Ted Hui Chi-fung claimed that HSBC had not only canceled credit card accounts belonging to him and his family but frozen funds within it that resulted from refunded purchases.

On the credit cards of both my family and myself, as a result of consumption refunds, the credit is more than the debit,» he said on his social media account. «The balances (around a few tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars) are all private property protected by Hong Kong’s Basic Law. They are now unlawfully embezzled by HSBC without any explanation.

While Hui’s claims about frozen funds could potentially be contentious, banks routinely assess and close accounts based on legal and compliance risk, especially with regards to politically exposed persons (PEPs).

This is not the first time Hui has had his accounts frozen after similar moves were made against him and his family’s HSBC Premier accounts in December. At the time, local police issued an official statement confirming it had directed the account suspension over a money laundering and national security law probe.

Although Hui’s claims that the latest credit card account cancellations were not requested by the police, an HSBC statement indicated otherwise.

«We have to abide by the laws of the jurisdiction in which we operate and this case is no different,» according to an HSBC spokesperson who said further inquiries should be directed to law enforcement.