Case with $600,000 grabbed

A BUSINESSMAN'S plan to buy a flat was foiled when his briefcase containing $600,000 in cash was snatched by four men in Tsim Sha Tsui yesterday.

Lai Ah-wan, 69, was waiting in an Austin Road restaurant for a friend after withdrawing $600,000 from the Hang Seng Bank at the junction of Nathan Road and Pak Hoi Street.

Police said the victim was sitting near the entrance just after noon waiting for his friend to arrive.

Apart from the cash, his briefcase also contained a $2 million time deposit statement used to show his intention to buy a flat.

Four men, believed to be Vietnamese, arrived at the restaurant on the ground floor of 122 Austin Road.

Two of them stood by the entrance while the other two talked to a waiter in English.

The waiter apparently could not understand what they were saying. The pair then approached the victim to try to get him to help with the conversation.

The four men left afterwards and when Mr Lai returned to his seat he found his briefcase missing.

He tried to chase the four but lost sight of them.