Yahoo gets sued for failing to keep 2007 Chinese dissident promises

Yahoo had pledged to give support — legal and otherwise — to the families of two men jailed as a result of the company sharing their email address and other information with Chinese authorities. The company also said it would create a relief fund for others imprisoned for expressing their views online.

That fund was allegedly ravaged by self-dealing, according to the revised complaint and a statement issued by the law firm that filed it.

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“Of the $17.3 million that funded the Yahoo Human Rights Trust, more than $13 million, including $2.6 million for a Washington, D.C. townhouse, has been illegally diverted for expenditures that have nothing to do with providing humanitarian assistance,” according to a statement issued by Washington-based Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll.

Yahoo has declined to comment on the allegations. New York-based Verizon Communications Inc. has agreed to acquire Yahoo for $4.48 billion, which was revised lower by $350 million after revelations of security breaches at the web company. The deal is expected to close during the second quarter.