Burglars nab HK$7m-worth earrings, cash and valuables from two Sai Kung houses

Burglars got away with a pair of 5-carat diamond earrings valued at HK$7 million and another HK$1.7 million in cash and valuables after breaking into the Sai Kung home of a Taiwanese businesswoman and her husband who had gone out for dinner.

The alarm was raised shortly after 9pm on Sunday, and as officers were combing the area with sniffer dogs, a second call came in to report another burglary just 300 metres away.

Police believe both of the burglaries were carried out by the same team, with one burglar breaking in and a second acting as lookout.

Officers said the HK$8.7 million haul made it the biggest burglary to hit the coastal Sai Kung district in the past 12 months - with recent months seeing a spate of burglaries in luxury homes throughout the city.

Lin Jen-ni, 57, and her husband, Chiang Chih-chiang, 59, returned from dinner to their three-storey house in Lotus Villas, on Chuk Yeung Road, shortly after 9pm to find they had become the latest statistic.

As well as the HK$7 million earrings, three luxury watches, four other pairs of earrings, 100,000 yuan (HK$130,000) and US$5,000 were taken.

Initial investigations suggested that a burglar had shinned up a drainpipe and pried open the kitchen window on the first floor.