26th January 2023 – (Hong Kong) Tommy Cheung Sau-yin, a Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and a former Yuen Long District Councillor was recently accused of borrowing money from hundreds of people without repaying. Related information has been widely circulated on social media. He allegedly owed money to finance columnist Wong Siu-ki, Comic Artist “Ah To”, anti-government activist Herbert Chow Siu-lung, founder and CEO of Chickeeduck and Benson Wong Wai-kwok, Assistant Professor Political Science Hong Kong Baptist University Hong Kong. The group of creditors even set up a group on Telegram and it was reported that the total debt has reached HK$1million. In response to media enquiries, Cheung said that this is his private matter and he will respond to the affected individuals in private.
Ah To shared a post on social media yesterday afternoon (25th) by referring to a “famous debtor who borrowed money but never repaid.” He recently pointed out that he had received a phone call from the other party when the incident was exposed and said that Cheung has a bad attitude and he finally negotiated a repayment scheme that will last six to seven years. He believes that the chance of Cheung repaying is very slim. He claimed that Cheung also borrowed from many in different industries spanning from finance, construction, public relations and even art collectors.
Ah To also alleged that Cheung eats good food and buys designer items. Meanwhile, Cheung claimed to some people that he has ‘links’ to Legislative Councillor Regina Ip. Ip responded that she is not close to him and she has only met him twice.
Benson Wong Wai-kwok who has migrated to U.K. said that he has lent Cheung a total of HK$260,000. He met him in 2012 when Cheung was still a student.
In the 2018 New Territories East by-election, Cheung announced his candidacy and joined the pro-democracy primary, running against Gary Fan of Neo Democrats and Kwok Wing-kin of the Labour Party.
Cheung was elected to public office for the first time during the 2019 Hong Kong District Council elections, winning a seat in Yuen Lung. He defeated incumbent Wilson Wong by 900 votes.
On 22nd October 2021, Cheung decided to resign as district councillor ahead of oath-taking, due to health reasons because he was diagnosed with liver tumour.
He is the former spokesman of Scholarism, president of the Student Union of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the standing committee of the Hong Kong Federation of Students.