A man who previously represented residents of fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po has been arrested, along with his wife, on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering, the South China Morning Post has learned.

Sources familiar with the matter said Jason Kong Cheung-fat, a director of Ace Interior Design & Engineering Company Ltd, and his wife, who is also a director of the company, were arrested on Thursday.

The couple are suspected of borrowing hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong dollars under the 100 per cent Personal Loan Guarantee Scheme, a pandemic relief measure introduced in 2020, to provide fully government-guaranteed loans to companies struggling to stay afloat.

Sources said Kong applied to banks twice under the scheme in 2022. During the applications, he allegedly gave the impression that the company’s revenue had fallen between January and March 2020.

After the loans were approved, most of the proceeds were withdrawn in cash, with some transferred to Kong’s personal bank account.

The couple were held at separate police stations for questioning.