June 26, 2002: A flat in Sheung Shui is chained from outside and torched by debt collectors as the family sleeps inside. The family's son discovers the fire when he wakes up and goes to the toilet in the ninth-floor unit at Hon Wu House, Yuk Po Court in Choi Yuen Road. The chain used to lock the gate and a plastic bottle containing paint thinner are found after the fire. The teenager's mother and sister are treated for smoke inhalation.
April 1, 2002: A fire starts when a petrol bomb is thrown into an Aberdeen flat. Widower Yau Kar-yu, 41, who lives alone in the apartment at Wah Tai House, Wah Fu Estate, is found lying unconscious on the verandah with 70 per cent burns. He is taken to Queen Mary Hospital in a critical condition. Neighbours claim that debt collectors have visited Mr Yau demanding repayment of a loan.
May 21, 2001: Mobile phone giant Hutchison Telecom is accused of harassment by a former customer who claims the firm's debt-collectors jammed phone lines at her workplace for three days, demanding payment for a non-existent bill. Hutchison admits the billing mistake and apologises to Mrs Hung but denies its collection agencies used improper tactics.
August 26, 2000: An injured boy staggers into Ma On Shan police station and is taken to Prince of Wales Hospital where his condition is described as serious. Au Chi-yung alleges he has been unlawfully detained after trying to retrieve $7,500 from a friend.
August 24, 2000: A gang of debt collectors armed with wooden and metal bars smashes office equipment worth $100,000 after failing to collect payment at a 21st-floor office in Hung To Road, Kwun Tong. More than 10 men are involved in this incident. An employee is assaulted and struck on the head but does not require hospital treatment.
August 19, 2000: A 13-year-old boy escapes serious injury when a Molotov cocktail is hurled into his Sha Tin home in an attack apparently linked to debt collection. He is treated in hospital.
