Blackmailer pleads guilty to HK$100 million plot involving Hong Kong tycoon and nude images of his celebrity wife
- Former security guard Wong Hin-chung tried to extort Hong Kong employer with 24-second video of half-naked spouse
- Wong and accomplices Kwong Hung-kwong, and Michael Tsui face up to seven years behind bars
A security guard who worked for a Hong Kong business tycoon has admitted trying to extort HK$100 million (US$12.8 million) from his ex-employer last year using a nude video of the man’s wife.
The District Court heard that Wong Hin-chung conspired with two others to press his former boss into buying the 24-second tape he took after seeing security camera footage of the woman, whom prosecutors described as a well-known celebrity, getting changed at her home six to seven years before the incident.
Wong, 51, and his conspirators – delivery man Kwong Hung-kwong, 58, and bodyguard Michael Tsui Man-kit, 46 – face up to seven years in prison after they pleaded guilty to a joint charge of conspiracy to blackmail on Friday.
Prosecutor Angel Yuen Wai-yee said Wong worked for the tycoon, only identified in court as X, for two to three years, and was responsible for security at his employer’s residence.
While reviewing security footage at the premises several years ago, Wong stumbled upon a clip which showed X’s wife half-naked when she was changing. He took a video of the footage and showed it to Tsui, a friend he knew for more than a decade, but did not spread it online.
When Wong told Tsui about having financial difficulties in November 2019, the latter suggested the security guard used the tape to blackmail his former boss, to which Wong agreed.
