Hong Kong court finds two guilty in plot to help slain model Abby Choi’s ex-husband flee
A Hong Kong court convicted two individuals for conspiring to help slain model Abby Choi's ex-husband flee the city a day after her murder in 2023.
The South China Morning Post reported that the Kowloon City Court found that yacht rental agent Lam Shun, 44, and Irene Pun, 31, had agreed to arrange a boat to Macau for a certain "Alex" to evade criminal sanctions.
There was, however, insufficient evidence to show that Lam and Pun knew the suspect was Choi's ex, Alex Kwong.
“This court finds it difficult to imagine why a person who has not committed an offense and is not wanted by police would have to leave Hong Kong for Macau urgently at all costs,” Magistrate Philip Chan said.
Lam and Pun, who claimed to be unemployed, allegedly planned the illegal boat journey under the guise of holding a party at sea after learning that “Alex” wants to leave Hong Kong as soon as possible, without being intercepted by the authorities.
The court heard them discuss the matter with a Macau resident identified as "Ivy" over the phone.
Ivy, who wasn't charged in the case, discussed with them a boat rental request she had made on behalf of her "friend," Alex.
Chan, in his verdict, said Lam, Pun, and Ivy must have known Alex was evading arrest as Ivy said her friend wanted to leave Hong Kong “as soon as possible,” and that money was “not a consideration."
He noted that Lam must have also been aware of the plan's illegal nature, saying the latter tried to justify a HK$300,000 (PhP 2.1 million) proposed rental fee because “someone might have to take the blame” should marine officers intercept the yacht.
Pun, meanwhile, maintained that she didn't realize she was helping Alex, claiming she initially thought Alex was a boyfriend of an influencer who had been attacked on the street.
Pun also claimed that she's just testing Ivy with the idea of smuggling Alex to Macau via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.
Chan rejected Pun's claims, saying that evidence ran counter to her denials.
He argued that Pun didn't stop contacting Lam and Ivy despite her supposed suspicion about the boat journey. Moreover, if her only role in the situation was to relay messages, she had no reason to ask for the identity of Ivy's friend.
In mitigation, or the lessening of the crime's severity for a lighter sentence, Pun's lawyer Lydia Lau said there was a lack of evidence that she knew she was aiding a murder suspect or was the mastermind in the conspiracy.
“I’d say [Pun] was accidentally dragged into this incident,” Lau said, adding that her client had been under immense stress following online attacks on her character.
Lam and Pun were remanded in custody pending an assessment of their backgrounds, ahead of sentencing on June 27.
Murder of Abby Choi
Choi was murdered—and dismembered—amid an alleged financial dispute with Kwong and his family. She was 28.
Her partial remains have been discovered in a house set up as a butchery site—complete with an electric saw and meat grinder that had been used to mince human flesh—on Feb. 24, 2023. Alex made the unsuccessful escape attempt the next day.
After conducting a DNA test, authorities were able to determine that the skull that was found in a large soup pot and the two legs hidden in a refrigerator at the flat were hers.
Alex's father Kwong Kau and older brother Anthony Kwong are in prison pending a High Court trial over Choi's death.
Alex was also arrested on seven charges, “including six counts of theft arising from a fraudulent scheme in which he lured investors into buying a variety of jewelry, then persuaded them to hand the items over so he could use them to speculate in the gold market.” He was also slapped with another count of “failing to surrender to custody” as he posted bail before the start of his trial back in November 2015.
The trio is also facing a charge of preventing the lawful burial of a body.
Alex's mother Jenny Li, meanwhile, is currently on trial at the District Court for allegedly obstructing a police investigation involving her younger son with a 2015 theft case.
