Former Cyberport Director Among Six Charged in HK$20 Million Technology Subsidy Case

Gifts, accelerated applications and an alleged subsidy fraud

A former Cyberport director and five people connected to a technology supplier have been charged in Hong Kong over alleged bribery and fraud involving at least 400 applications for government technology subsidies worth approximately HK$20 million. The case, numbered ESCC 2425/2026, has been adjourned to January 4, 2027, with all six defendants released on bail.

Su Yali (蘇雅麗), 59, formerly Cyberport's director of entrepreneurship, allegedly accepted airline tickets, bags and a mobile phone from the owner of Find Solution Ai Limited in return for favouring the company in applications under the Digital Transformation Support Pilot Programme. Investigators allege that she accelerated applications involving the supplier and stopped an investigation into complaints from programme applicants.

The prosecution combines two bribery charges with a separate conspiracy to defraud charge against five defendants. The alleged fraud concerns representations that small and medium enterprises had applied for assistance, engaged Find Solution to provide services and paid their required share of the fees. Those representations allegedly induced Cyberport to approve applications and pay the remaining share to the supplier as government assistance.

The defendants were not required to enter pleas at their appearance in Eastern Magistrates' Courts. Further investigation is continuing, and none of the allegations has been established by a conviction. The court proceedings concern approximately HK$20 million, a narrower amount than the sums disclosed earlier in the wider investigation into the programme.

Who faces the charges?

Su faces one count of a public servant accepting an advantage under section 4(2)(a) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance. Lin Yuanli (林苑莉), 39, who runs Find Solution Ai Limited, faces one count of offering an advantage to a public servant under section 4(1)(a) of the same ordinance.

Lin also faces a common law charge of conspiracy to defraud alongside her brother, Lin Jianhao (林健濠), 35, the company's secretary, and three people described as downstream sales agents for Find Solution. The agents marketed the supplier's digital technology services to small and medium enterprises.

• Li Yilin (李易璘), 40, is identified in court reporting as a director and shareholder of Hong Kong Vision Enterprise Limited (香港願景企業有限公司).
• Chen Kaijin (陳凱進), 31, is identified as a director and shareholder of 訊達坊有限公司.
• Zeng Weiping (曾偉平), 52, is also identified as a director and shareholder of 訊達坊有限公司.

Descriptions of Lin Yuanli's corporate role differ: investigation reports call her Find Solution's sole proprietor, while court reports identify her as a director and shareholder. Both descriptions place her at the centre of the supplier's operations. Su is not named as a defendant on the conspiracy count in the reported charges.

What the alleged gifts were meant to secure

The bribery allegations cover October 27, 2023, to December 14, 2025. Court accounts describe the alleged advantages as more than one airline ticket, one handbag, two tote bags, one coin purse and one mobile phone. Investigation accounts describe return flights between Hong Kong and Thailand and Japan, designer bags and a smartphone.

These descriptions provide different levels of detail about the alleged gifts. No total monetary value for them has been disclosed. The charge against Su alleges that she accepted the advantages without lawful authority or reasonable excuse as an inducement or reward for favouring Find Solution in subsidy applications.

The alleged favouritism involved two distinct administrative actions: speeding up applications connected to Find Solution and halting an investigation into complaints about the company. The complaint allegation matters separately from application processing because it concerns whether concerns raised by applicants were allowed to receive scrutiny.

Su was responsible for the programme secretariat from October 2023 until January 2026. Her responsibilities included reviewing subsidy application documents and arranging the release of funding. The allegations therefore concern gifts allegedly given to someone with direct responsibility for decisions affecting the supplier, rather than an employee with no role in the programme.

How the funding arrangement allegedly became a fraud

The Digital Transformation Support Pilot Programme helps small and medium enterprises adopt existing digital solutions supplied by registered service providers. Examples include electronic payment systems, online promotion tools and customer management systems. Cyberport acts as the programme's secretariat, and Find Solution was one of its service providers.

Participating businesses must pay half the cost of their chosen solution, with government assistance covering the other half up to HK$50,000 per enterprise. That requirement makes the applicant's own payment a central part of the funding arrangement: the subsidy is intended to support a purchase in which the business also contributes.

The conspiracy charge alleges that Lin Yuanli, Lin Jianhao and the three sales agents falsely represented that eligible businesses had applied, commissioned Find Solution's services and paid half the service fees. Cyberport was allegedly induced to approve the applications and pay the other half directly to Find Solution.

The alleged conspiracy period runs from October 27, 2023, to January 12, 2026. Court accounts also name Liu Zhiqing (劉芷菁) as an alleged participant in the conspiracy, but she is not among the six defendants in these proceedings. Her procedural status is not stated.

What 400 applications and HK$20 million show

Investigators say the charged case involves at least 400 applications and approximately HK$20 million in subsidies. Those figures indicate a substantial volume of transactions, rather than a dispute over a single purchase or application.

A useful comparison comes from the programme's funding limit: 400 subsidies at the maximum HK$50,000 would total HK$20 million. This arithmetic shows the scale of the alleged scheme against the programme's rules. It does not establish that every application sought or received the maximum, because the application count is a minimum and the amount is approximate.

The alleged false statements also concern more than whether an applicant qualified as a small or medium enterprise. They concern whether the business actually applied, engaged the supplier and made the required payment. These are separate factual claims supporting the release of public money.

The exact amount ultimately paid, recovered or lost in the charged case has not been separately detailed in the court accounts. The approximately HK$20 million figure should therefore be understood as the amount of subsidy involved in the allegations, not a final judicial finding of financial loss.

How the prosecution fits the January crackdown

The charges follow an Independent Commission Against Corruption investigation known as 雷鳴, or Thunder. On January 30, 2026, authorities disclosed that this operation concerned about 1,000 applications under the Digital Transformation Support Pilot Programme, seeking HK$50 million in funding. They said HK$31 million in payments had been blocked and nine people arrested.

At that stage, ICAC principal investigator Zheng Chuming (鄭礎明) described allegations that a supplier cultivated an improper relationship with a Cyberport employee approaching retirement. The alleged benefits included gifts, free travel and benefits to be received later. He also said the employee had temporarily prevented an investigation. These were investigative allegations, not court findings.

The earlier operation figures and the current prosecution figures measure different scopes. The January disclosure covered about 1,000 applications and HK$50 million sought; the present charges concern at least 400 applications and roughly HK$20 million. The reports do not provide a complete reconciliation of the applications or explain the status of every person arrested in the wider operation.

The January announcement also covered a separate operation, 震雷, involving the Technology Voucher Programme. That investigation concerned 470 applications seeking more than HK$100 million, with HK$94 million blocked and 24 arrests. Investigators alleged that participants bribed bank employees, an insurance agent and an accounting manager to help create accounts and records. Those allegations belong to the separate investigation and should not be attributed to the six defendants in the Cyberport prosecution.

The dates that define the case

The alleged conduct spans more than two years. Different dates describe Su's administrative responsibilities, the alleged acceptance of gifts, the alleged conspiracy and the subsequent enforcement action.

• October 2023: Su began the reported period in which she had full responsibility for the programme secretariat.
• October 27, 2023: Both the alleged bribery period and the alleged conspiracy period began.
• December 14, 2025: The alleged bribery period ended.
• January 12, 2026: The alleged conspiracy period ended.
• January 2026: Su's reported period of responsibility for the secretariat ended.
• January 30, 2026: Authorities disclosed the two technology subsidy investigations, with 33 arrests combined.
• January 4, 2027: The six defendants are due to return to court.

The January announcement described approximately 1,500 applications across the two investigations and more than HK$150 million in attempted subsidy fraud. Its separate operation totals, about 1,000 and 470 applications, are consistent with that rounded combined count. Authorities said they prevented more than HK$120 million from being released; the individual blocked amounts, HK$31 million and HK$94 million, total HK$125 million.

These combined figures describe the wider enforcement announcement. They are not the value of the charges now before the court, and the 33 arrests should not be confused with the six defendants in this case.

Bail, evidence and the next hearing

Magistrate Wang Zhengyu (王證瑜) approved bail after the prosecution said it did not oppose release. Su, Lin Yuanli and Lin Jianhao were each granted bail of HK$100,000. Li Yilin, Chen Kaijin and Zeng Weiping were each granted bail of HK$20,000. All six must remain in Hong Kong and must not contact prosecution witnesses.

The prosecution presented consent to prosecute from the Department of Justice and requested a 12 week adjournment for further investigation. It described a case involving 49 witnesses, including 14 ICAC officers, approximately 3,000 pages of documents and 12 recorded interviews conducted under caution, totalling about 10 hours and 45 minutes.

An interview under caution is a formal investigative interview in which a suspect is warned about the possible use of their answers as evidence. The existence of these recordings does not itself indicate what any defendant said or establish the truth of the charges. Their contents have not been detailed in the accounts of the hearing.

The next listed appearance is January 4, 2027. No trial date, plea or verdict has been reported. The court has yet to determine whether the alleged gifts were corrupt advantages, whether the subsidy representations were dishonest, and what responsibility each defendant bears.

Prevention measures announced alongside enforcement

The ICAC says it will publish a corruption prevention guide for innovation and technology funding schemes and provide training for government departments and public funding bodies. The planned guidance is intended to strengthen oversight of funding programmes and improve the ability of managers and industry participants to identify corruption risks.

The January announcement put publication of the guide in the second quarter of 2026. The later account accompanying the charges again described it as forthcoming, without confirming publication or providing a revised date. Its publication status is therefore not established by these reports.

The allegations identify concrete areas of concern for subsidy administration: relationships between suppliers and officials, proof that applicants have made their required contribution, processing decisions and the treatment of complaints. The ICAC has said it will continue advising funding bodies on administrative procedures and corruption prevention. At the January announcement, it described the two investigations as individual incidents, rather than evidence that all technology funding schemes were affected.

Key Points

• Six defendants face charges arising from alleged bribery and fraud involving Cyberport's Digital Transformation Support Pilot Programme.
• Former director Su Yali allegedly accepted travel tickets, bags and a phone in return for favouring Find Solution Ai Limited.
• Five other defendants face a conspiracy charge involving at least 400 applications and approximately HK$20 million in subsidies.
• The wider January investigation involved larger application and funding totals than the present prosecution.
• All six defendants are on bail, must remain in Hong Kong and must not contact prosecution witnesses.
• No pleas were required at the hearing. The next court appearance is January 4, 2027.