Lai's 71-percent stake in the Next Digital media conglomerate he founded, along with property in local banks of three companies owned by him were frozen under Article 43 of the National Security Law for Hong Kong, the city's Security Bureau said. It also warned: "Relevant persons and organizations must not, directly or indirectly, deal with certain property which is reasonably suspected to be related to offenses endangering national security."
Hong Kong police’s national security department brought one charge of collusion with a foreign power to endanger national security against Lai on Dec. 11, 2020, and a further two charges of conspiracy to commit the same offense were brought on April 16, 2021.
