Abby Choi’s ex-husband used socialite’s money to live lavishly on mainland: court

Slain Hong Kong socialite Abby Choi Tin-fung’s ex-husband lived an affluent lifestyle in mainland China allegedly funded by the model’s money and borrowed a car used to move equipment involved in her killing, a court has heard.

The High Court heard on Monday that Alex Kwong Kong-chi used his former partner’s digital wallets to cover his expenses in Guangzhou while evading justice for his role in a HK$6.3 million theft case in 2015.

The 31-year-old is standing trial alongside his father, Kwong Kau, 68, and elder brother, Anthony Kwong Kong-kit, 35, for allegedly murdering Choi on February 21, 2023.

The elder Kwong, a retired police sergeant, is also contesting a charge of preventing the burial of the 28-year-old’s body. His two sons pleaded guilty to the offence before the trial began last month.

Herman Ng Deng-hao, Alex Kwong’s former business partner and friend, said in a written statement that the defendant appeared very wealthy while he was living across the border.

He said Kwong used to stay at the luxurious Rosewood Guangzhou hotel and had a personal driver who would drive him around the province in either a Rolls-Royce saloon or Lexus seven-seater.

But Ng noted that Kwong appeared to have used mobile payment apps authenticated under the abbreviated names “Fung” or “Tin-fung” whenever they met for meals.

Ng, whose family was involved in property development in Guangzhou, said he first met Kwong at a gathering in September 2020. They later jointly invested in a real estate project, with Kwong contributing 3.5 million yuan (US$524,400) and earning a 10 per cent profit, the court heard.

The witness said Kwong was forced to return to Hong Kong on June 10, 2022, after he told Choi that he had a girlfriend.

According to Ng, the influencer was upset by her ex-husband “picking up girls” on the mainland while neglecting their two children in the city.

He confirmed that Kwong had sought to borrow a car from him in January 2023 under the pretence that his own had a scheduled maintenance and that he needed one to drive his children to school. Ng later referred the defendant to his elder brother, who lent him a Toyota Alphard seven-seater.

The defendants previously admitted that Kwong’s seven-seater car was never sent for repair in the lead-up to the model’s killing.

Kwong Kau allegedly used the seven-seater car that his son borrowed to transport equipment specifically bought to dismantle Choi’s body to a 600 square foot rental flat in Tai Po’s Lung Mei village.

Parts of Choi’s dismembered remains, including her head and legs, were discovered at the ground-floor flat on February 24, 2023.

Senior government chemist Dr Tam Cheok-ning testified on Thursday that he found a cut mark on Choi’s remains that was consistent with the blade of one of two electric saws found in the flat. He also opined that the two plastic boxes found inside the premises were the same ones the defendants allegedly used to carry Choi’s body.

In cross-examination on Monday, Kwong Kau’s lawyer Oliver Davies argued the box was “almost fully transparent” and that an observer could discern its contents from a distance.

“It is not the kind of box that you would use to hide a body,” Davies said.

Tam said he “did not consider” that possibility, but he agreed with the prosecution’s suggestion that the box’s contents would become much less clear if two stacked-up boxes were used and if they were seen from the side.

The prosecution also called two school workers to testify about Choi’s failure to fetch her eight-year-old daughter on the day she was allegedly killed.

Hui Siu-hung, then a senior executive officer at Malvern College Hong Kong, said Choi did not arrive to pick up her child at 3pm on February 21. She said the mother’s phone appeared to be turned off after she repeatedly tried to call her.

Hui said she also failed to reach the girl’s paternal grandmother, Jenny Li Sui-heung, as she appeared to be talking to someone else on the phone at that time.

College clerk Amy Yeung Wai-fun said Li eventually called back at 3.40pm and said she was caught in a traffic jam in Kwun Tong. The grandmother arrived to pick up the girl half an hour later, the court heard.

The trial continues before Deputy Judge Brian Keith and a nine-member jury.