Two senior officials in charge of the Hong Kong police national security department have recently paid off their outstanding mortgages after being sanctioned by the United States for the mass arrests of democratic activists in January.

The department’s director, Frederic Choi, last Tuesday repaid the mortgage on a 991-square-foot (92-square meter) residential unit in Fo Tan he bought for HK$8.37 million (US$1.1 million) in 2014, according to Land Registry records. The property’s market value is estimated at HK$13.09 million today. The mortgage was originally from HSBC and was switched to Hang Seng Bank — a unit of HSBC — in 2017.

Choi and two others in his department were among six officials placed under sanctions by Washington on Jan. 15. for their roles in the arrests of 55 Hong Kong pro-democracy politicians and activists earlier that month. Those arrested were accused of violating the national security law by participating in unofficial primaries for a legislative election.

Choi’s repayment came on the same day that Guo Shuqing, the Communist Party chief for the People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank, said that Hong Kong’s financial institutions would not follow the requirements under the U.S. sanctions, saying that these had no legally binding powers.

Another sanctioned official in charge of national security, Assistant Commissioner of Police Kelvin Kong, paid off a HK$5 million mortgage from the Bank of China and a HK$2.09 million government loan late last month. Kong had obtained the money to buy an apartment for HK$9.81 million in 2012.

Police said in a reply to Apple Daily’s inquiries that the mortgages were personal affairs and had nothing to do with the two officials’ work. Hang Seng Bank declined to comment on Choi’s case when asked by Apple Daily.

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