The secretary for justice applied to the High Court earlier this month to seize Lai’s assets linked to three conspiracies to instigate foreign sanctions and incite public hatred towards the authorities in 2019 and 2020.

The application, seen by the South China Morning Post on Tuesday, said Lai controlled 20 personal and corporate bank accounts in Hong Kong, with remaining balances ranging from HK$212.32 to HK$19,810,748.05.

The justice secretary also sought to take over control of 17 companies owned by Lai by ordering the forfeiture of “all shares under the defendant’s own name or under the names of the respective shareholders”.

Those companies included Next Digital, the parent company of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, in which Lai still holds a 71.26 per cent shareholding.

The combined value of the stakes remains unclear, but the court filing said Lai’s shares in two of those firms, Comitex Holdings and Comitex Knitters, could be worth HK$71.4 million in total.