Deepening intrigue surrounds movements at bookseller while police search for missing owner
CLIFFORD.LO@SCMP.COM
PUBLISHED : Friday, 08 January, 2016, 11:41pm
UPDATED : Friday, 08 January, 2016, 11:41pm
Police officers investigate around the warehouse of Causeway Bay Books on Hong Man Road in Chai Wan on January 7. Photo: Jonathan Wong
A new investor bought shares in the publishing house connected to missing Hong Kong bookseller Lee Bo in November soon after four of his colleagues vanished, the Post has learnt — an unexpected discovery by officials which adds to the deepening mystery.
Police investigating his disappearance took the man, who allegedly purchased a stake in Mighty Current – which is linked to the Causeway Bay Books store – to the shop on Thursday to seize some documents.
“Police contacted the man as part of the investigation,” a source with knowledge of the investigation said. While he declined to say whether the new share deal had been completed before Lee vanished on December 30, a Post check on the companies registry records showed Mighty Current has two directors – Lui Por, one of the missing four, and Choi Ka-ping, the wife of Lee Bo.
The new twist surfaced as the search for Lee entered its eighth day on Friday. It is understood police are waiting to hear from their mainland counterparts on whether Lee was detained there.
Lee’s associates – Gui Minhai, Lui Por, Cheung Ji-ping and Lam Wing-kei – went missing separately in October. Gui disappeared while on holiday in Pattaya, Thailand, in mid-October and Cheung, Lui and Lam vanished later that month on the mainland.
Police officers investigate Causeway Bay Books in Causeway Bay. Photo: SCMP PicturesCheung, Lui and Lam, reported missing in Hong Kong on November 5, were understood to have left for Shenzhen via Lo Wu immigration checkpoint separately. But there was no official record of Lee leaving Hong Kong. Causeway Bay Books, which sells books critical of the Chinese Communist Party, remained closed yesterday.
Separately, a source told the Post that investigations showed a bald middle-aged man went to the bookstore to find Lee at about 3pm on December 30, around three hours before Lee left the Chai Wan office of the publishing house and vanished. Another source said it was not known if the man was linked to Lee’s disappearance. He declined to say if police had identified him.
Surveillance footage showed Lee left the office in Hong Man Industrial Centre, Chai Wan, shortly after 6pm on December 30.
“Security camera footage showed he left the office alone. Police are still poring over security camera footage to trace where he went,” the source said.
Lee’s wife reported him missing on New Year’s Day after he allegedly called her from Shenzhen.
Meanwhile, the European Union urged authorities on the mainland, Hong Kong and Thailand to investigate and clarify the disappearances of the five. Lee is a British national while Gui has a Swedish passport. In a statement late on Thursday, the EU said the continuing lack of information about their well-being and whereabouts was “extremely worrying”.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1899541/mystery-investor-bought-causeway-bay-books-owners
