Meet the group that earned millions after Jimmy Lai’s arrest

This appeared in The Millennial Source

It is reported that the 15 people who were arrested allegedly manipulated Next Digital’s stock, artificially inflating it in order to collect a combined profit of HK$38.7 million.

On September 3, Hong Kong authorities arrested 15 people on charges of money laundering and suspicion of conspiracy to defraud in connection with last month’s surge in shares of Next Digital Ltd., a media company owned by Jimmy Lai, the founder of a pro-democratic publication.

This is just the latest news following Lai’s arrest last month under Hong Kong’s contentious National Security Law. The arrest of the media mogul was due to alleged “collusion with a foreign country, uttering seditious words, and conspiracy to defraud.”

As news erupted of Lai’s arrest, Next Digital’s stock — which had been anticipated to fall drastically as a result of wariness about the company’s future — instead increased by nearly 344% over the course of the day.

The stock’s surge is thought to be linked to a push by some Hong Kongers on social media who called for advocates to buy shares of Next Digital stock as a way to show support for Lai.

On August 11, the price had climbed more than 1,100% over what it was the day…