Trial begins of triad member accused of plot to kill ICAC witness

A triad member has been accused of being deeply involved in the plot to murder a key ICAC witness in an $8 billion cigarette-smuggling case nine years ago.

The witness, Tommy Chui To-yan, was snatched from his Porsche in Singapore on March 29, 1995, gagged and dumped in the sea, the Court of First Instance heard.

His body was found inside three canvas bags on April 1, 1995, in Singapore harbour and a triad message was left in the form of weights attached to his body, senior government counsel Michael Arthur told the jury.

Cheng Wui-yiu, 42, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of conspiracy to murder in Hong Kong between August 1, 1994, and April 1, 1995. He was caught on the mainland and repatriated to Hong Kong in August last year. The co-conspirators include former customs and excise officer Henfrey Tin Sau-kwong, John Cheung Wai-ming, Cheng Hing, Lee Yiu-man and Wong Kwong-kai.

Cheng Wui-yiu and co-accused, Chung Ping-shing, 44, denied a joint charge of conspiracy to assist a person to retain proceeds of an indictable offence. The prosecution said the two defendants and Tin were parties to the arrangement of a $230,000 payment to Cheung for Chui's murder.

Although there was no direct evidence that Cheng Wui-yiu and other conspirators knew of Tin's real reason for ordering the murder, they were deeply involved, Mr Arthur said.

Mr Arthur said Cheng Wui-yiu was part of a five-man team sent to Singapore. The prosecution said Tin was the 'shadow boss' behind the killing of Chui, who assisted the Independent Commission Against Corruption in December 1994 and agreed to return to Hong Kong to testify against the former customs officer.