HONG KONG: Hong Kong socialite Abby Choi Tin-fung called her former father-in-law an “old crook” as she accused her ex-relatives of turning her children against her when she tried to sell a HK$72 million (US$9.17 million) flat, a court has heard.
Choi’s mother, Cheung Yin-fa, on Tuesday said her daughter had become hostile towards her former parents-in-law, Kwong Kau and Jenny Li Sui-heung, in the months before the influencer’s death in February 2023.
Cheung wept in the witness box as she watched footage of her late daughter welcoming guests to the luxury flat, prompting the judge to halt the trial temporarily, as reported by the local Hong Kong media.
Cheung then stated tearfully that Choi "trusted and gave her heart to the wrong people" and that the Kwong family "really bit the hand that fed them".
Cheung testified that Kwong Kau and his wife actively disparaged Choi in front of her children, telling them not to listen to their mother. They allegedly attempted to turn the children against Choi as the property row intensified, according to SCMP's report on Tuesday.
Cheung testified in the High Court on Monday and Tuesday about the relationship between her daughter, ex-son-in-law Alex Kwong Kong-chi, and his family in the years leading up to the influencer’s slaying in February 2023.
The prosecution said the family rift grew after Choi tried to sell the luxury apartment at the Kadooria residential complex in Ho Man Tin. Kwong Kau was the registered owner of the property, but Choi's mother asserted that the flat was never intended as a gift.
Cheung described the Kwong family as "penniless" before the arrangement and claimed they had lived entirely off Choi's family wealth.
When Choi later attempted to sell the apartment, Kwong Kau allegedly became extremely resentful and angry. The court heard that Choi accused him of taking advantage of her, calling him an "old crook" amid the escalating argument over ownership.
For the record, Police discovered parts of 28-year-old Abby Choi's dismembered body at a suburban Hong Kong property in February 2023, in a case that stunned the financial hub.
Choi's ex-husband Alex Kwong, 31, his father Kwong Kau, 68, and brother Anthony Kwong, 35, have pleaded not guilty to murder charges and have been on trial since Wednesday. They face life in prison if convicted.
Prosecution lawyer Charlotte Draycott said that days before Choi was reported missing, the defendants bought equipment later used to cut up and dispose of Choi's body, including a mincing machine.
The court was played CCTV footage that prosecutors said showed Choi, 28, getting into one of two vans used by the Kwongs in the afternoon on February 21, 2023. Her last online activity was at 2:44 pm.
Other footage showed the suspects parking the vans at a different location at around 3:20 pm the same day near the same property where police recovered her remains on February 24.
The three men were seen wearing face masks and were "not upset. It's what they expected," Draycott told the court, saying that they had prepared a "cogitated plan" to kill Choi.
On February 25, Alex Kwong -- who had two children with Choi -- was arrested while planning to flee Hong Kong, a day after his father and brother were detained.
Prosecutors also displayed a hammer to the jury and cited a forensic report saying that the injuries on Choi's skull, caused by a blunt instrument, matched the shape of the hammer.
Prosecutors told the jury earlier this week that Choi and her ex-husband's family had financial disputes over a luxury property which she had paid HK$60 million ($7.65 million).
The trial is expected to last at least until December. - AFP
