Call to audit Karolinska’s Hong Kong centre

The Swedish parliament’s constitutional committee has been asked to examine potential legal issues with the funds donated to set up a Karolinska Institute outpost in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong businessman Ming Wai Lao donated $50 million (€42m) to the Karolinska Institute in 2015 to set up the Ming Wai Lao Centre for Reparative Medicine. The government approved the process in July 2016. Approval came three months after the Swedish National Audit Office said it was unclear whether the creation of the centre was lawful.

In May 2016, the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet reported that Lao was linked with the so-called Panama papers—documents revealing financial information for offshore entities belonging to the law firm Mossack Fonseca. The papers proved that many rich and powerful people were engaging in tax avoidance.