A solicitor accused of taking part in an attempt to extort $10 million from tycoon Nina Wang Kung Yu-sum went with his co-accused to the drop-off point to try to stop him doing anything dangerous, a court heard yesterday.
Solicitor Ailey Yeung Chin-tat, 30, was arrested outside the Arts Centre in Wan Chai. His barrister friend Thomson Mo Sze-lung, 36, who was arrested nearby, had instructed Ms Wang to send an agent to leave the money in a locker at the centre, it is alleged.
The pair claim the plan was just a prank. Yeung insisted in the District Court that he had never wanted any money from Ms Wang.
When prosecutor Bernard Ryan suggested that $5 million would have been 'fairly handy', Yeung said: 'I absolutely disagree. Please do not humiliate me.'
The pair are accused of trying to extort the money by offering Ms Wang a favourable forensic report on a document produced in a probate hearing, which the Chinachem Group chairwoman claimed was the will of her husband, Teddy Wang Teh-huei.
Mo and Yeung deny blackmail, conspiracy to defraud and attempting to obtain property by deception. Judge John Saunders is due to hear counsel's submissions on Monday.