Hong Kong police have arrested more than a dozen people in connection with a dramatic rise in the shares of a media company owned by Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy tycoon detained last month under the city’s controversial national security law.
The surge began on August 10 as activists piled in to Next Digital’s normally thinly traded stock following Mr Lai’s arrest and a raid on the offices of Next-owned Apple Daily. The popular tabloid is known for its criticism of the Chinese Communist party and Hong Kong government officials.
Next’s shares soared by as much as 2,000 per cent on August 11, before retreating. On Thursday the stock closed at HK$0.41, up 37 per cent on the day, and more than four times higher than pre-raid levels.