A Hong Kong businessman who has taken on corruption in the construction sector has said he will focus more on his family after his arrest for allegedly defrauding a government loan.
Jason Poon has written on Facebook on Friday that he was safe, shortly after local media reported that he had been released on bail by the Kowloon City Division Police Station.
“I’m sorry I can’t tell you what happened in the last 48 hours. What I can say is that I didn’t sleep for the first 36 hours, but then I got enough rest for 10 hours,” Poon wrote in the Chinese-language post. “I’m in a good mood now. But my phone won’t recover until tonight.”
He also said he would stay in Hong Kong but would “put family, career and health as top priorities”.
Sing Tao Daily cited Poon telling reporters, “I’m fine,” as he left the police station around noon.
Local media reported on Thursday that Poon was among six people arrested by the police for fraud related to a government loan scheme.
According to a police statement on Thursday, two men and four women were arrested on Wednesday for alleged fraud related to the 100% Special Loan Guarantee.
of scheme was launched by the government in early 2020 to help companies in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.
All six are charged with offenses including fraud and money laundering.
Police said later on Friday that the six had been released on bail and were due to report back in mid-April.
Ming Pao reported on Friday, citing unnamed sources, that Lockill Biochemical Limited, a mask manufacturing company founded by Poon, allegedly defrauded the government’s HK$6 million loan scheme by submitting falsified sales figures and inflated salary data.
The suspects include Poon, his wife and staff at Lockill, according to Ming Pao.
Earlier, in early 2025, the police arrested six people, including at least a director of the parent company of independent media Channel Cfor allegedly defrauding the 100% Special Loan Guarantee of HK$20 million in total.
ALARMS
Poon rose to fame in 2018 after becoming a whistleblower in an MTR project corner-cutting scandal.
As the head of an MTR subcontractor, he told the press and lawmakers at the time that top rail executives already knew about the shortfall problems at the Hung Hom station expansion project.
In 2019, Poon founded an NGO called CHINAT to monitor the construction sector.
In recent years, Poon has been active in identifying issues in renovation projects in Hong Kong’s residential estates, including the quality of scaffolding networks and the bid rigging epidemic.
In the wake of the deadly fire at Wang Fuk Court, Poon said on social media that he had reported to authorities, including the Department of Fire Services and the Department of Labor, that some construction companies were using non-fire-resistant scaffolding nets in renovation projects.
