Slain Hong Kong model Abby Choi’s ex-husband jailed for 3½ years for HK$6.3 million gold theft
- Alex Kwong, 29, also jumped bail just before his 15-day trial began in November 2015
The former husband of slain Hong Kong socialite Abby Choi Tin-fung has been sentenced to 3½ years in jail for stealing HK$6.3 million (US$806,860) worth of gold and jewellery and escaping before his trial began in 2015.
The District Court on Wednesday jailed Alex Kwong Kong-chi on seven charges, including six counts of theft arising from a fraudulent scheme in which he lured investors into buying a variety of jewellery, then persuaded them to hand the items over so he could use them to speculate in the gold market.
The 29-year-old was also penalised on a seventh count of failing to surrender to custody, after jumping bail just before his 15-day trial began in November 2015.
Deputy Judge David Cheung Chi-wai said Kwong had carefully planned his crimes and was regularly searching for suitable targets to con over a 1½-year span before his escape in August of that year.
But Cheung stressed the accused was not prosecuted for the heavier offence of fraud, adding his alleged role in a separate criminal case had no bearing on the court’s sentencing.
The court awarded a 40 per cent reduction to Kwong’s five-year jail sentence after considering his guilty plea and full restitution made to the victims, but tagged on an extra six months for absconding.
A prosecution summary of the case said Kwong had stolen 35 necklaces, 33 bracelets, 11 gold bars, 102 gold grains, six pendants and 10 taels of gold – worth a total of HK$6.29 million – from six people, between June 2013 and January 2015.
The accused had successfully convinced the six to buy the items and hand them over to him for investment, promising the items would yield a high return in the gold trade. He then severed contact with his victims. He approached his first victim on an online forum in May 2013 when he was 18.
Kwong was arrested in February last year when he attempted to flee by speedboat to mainland China via Macau after the death of Choi, whose dismembered remains were discovered in a village house in Tai Po.
The court heard Kwong, who had worked as a property agent and ran a catering business north of the border after his 2015 escape, was found with a stash of credit cards, luxury watches, car keys, as well as his elder brother’s passport and mainland driving licence, at the time of his arrest.
Prosecutor Gary Leung Yuk-hang revealed the delay caused by Kwong’s escape had rendered a key prosecution witness unable to testify and forced the prosecution to drop a seventh theft count involving HK$54,355 in stolen assets.
Defence lawyer Eric So Chi-kit argued in his written mitigation submission that Kwong had committed the offences out of financial stress.
So said his client became the family’s sole breadwinner after his father retired from the police force and his mother went bankrupt after the failure of her apparel business.
He added that Kwong was also responsible for his elder brother’s living expenses while the latter pursued his studies in the United States.
The lawyer also said Kwong had two children with his ex-wife – an apparent reference to Choi – who he described as a “housewife”, before she was killed last year.
So stressed the accused had sought to repay his victims soon after making a profit while on the run on the mainland.
Kwong, his father Kwong Kau and elder brother Anthony Kwong Kong-kit are currently being held in remand over Choi’s killing. Prosecutors are applying for that case to be transferred to the High Court for trial.
Kwong’s mother, Jenny Li Sui-heung, has also been charged in separate proceedings for allegedly perverting the course of justice. She has secured a HK$200,000 bail from the High Court.
