Hedge fund guy in hot water after licking finger & wiping Hong Kong metro handrail in ill-conceived ‘fake news’ stunt (VIDEOS)

An alleged failed attempt at satire has landed a Hong Kong-based hedge fund manager in hot water after a video showing him appearing to lick his finger and wipe it on a handrail went viral.

Professional hedge fund manager and apparent part-time comedian, Joel Werner, claims the stunt was intended to draw attention to the scourge of fake news.

In the video, which has been spread far and wide across social media, Werner can be seen sucking and licking his finger before wiping it on the Hong Kong metro handrail. The original video was sent to a WhatsApp group but was apparently shared and quickly went viral.

After witnessing the backlash online, Werner, a chief investment officer at Solitude Capital Management, claims he called the police to explain himself but apparently, “They could not care less.” He also claims he did not actually put his fingers in his mouth while he also points to a second video which shows Werner apparently disinfecting the handrail.

“I’m terrified. It’s been spread all over,” the 43-year-old Hong Kong resident said. “I manage other people’s money. How embarrassing is this?”

I feel like a victim of a crime. It’s very upsetting.

The MTR Corporation, which runs the Hong Kong metro system has reportedly filed a police complaint. “We strongly condemn such a behaviour which blatantly disregarded public hygiene,” it said in a statement. 

Werner claims he decided to pull the prank after seeing a video which went viral on Chinese social media purporting to show an American soldier spreading the virus on a subway car in Wuhan, at the heart of a popular conspiracy theory doing the rounds on social media. He later issued a public apology but the damage to his reputation, and that of his company has already been done.

Hong Kong has 192 confirmed cases of coronavirus but just four deaths.

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