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SCMP Reporter

Shenzhen authorities have charged five people with the murder of Hong Kong millionaire Harry Lam Hon-lit, who was shot dead at a Central tea house two years ago.

One other man has been charged in connection with the case. Two suspects have been named for the first time by the authorities, including Hong Kong resident Lau Yat-yin, who is said to have ordered the murder.

It is also the first time that the mainland authorities have revealed details of the case.

The Southern Metropolitan News said the suspects would face trial in Shenzhen soon.

Lam, 54, a director of Hong Kong-based Digger Holdings and an investor in the Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen, was killed with a single bullet to the head in the Luk Yu Tea House on November 30, 2002, as he ate breakfast.

Mainland police later arrested four people - one Hong Kong resident and three mainlanders.

The newspaper yesterday quoted a summary of charges obtained from the Shenzhen People's Procuratorate as saying that the police had arrested two more Hong Kong residents on January 5 this year. They are Lau Yat-yin, 45, and Tang Tak-hau, 39. The summary did not reveal their background.

It said that Lau had paid $2 million to fellow Hong Kong resident Tse Bing, 45, on October 2002 to have Lam killed. He allegedly handed a picture of the victim, a $100,000 cash advance and some information about Lam's daily routine to Tse. Tse subsequently hired mainlander Yang Wen, 25, and Zhang Zixin, 20, at a bar in Shenzhen to carry out the murder, the summary of charges said. He allegedly paid 320,000 yuan to the killers. Tang was said to have provided the gun.

Yang and Zhang bought fake  identification documents in Shenzhen and travelled to Hong Kong on November 27, 2002, it is claimed. They twice tried to ambush Lam on November 28 and 29, the summary said. The killers finally trailed Lam  to the Luk Yu Tea House on  November 30. The millionaire was shot dead in an execution-style murder.

The two killers escaped to Shenzhen via Zhuhai after the killing. There they met Tse again to collect their bounty, it is alleged. Yang and Zhang were arrested in Hunan a month after the killing. Tse was arrested in Yunnan province.

The three Hong Kong suspects have been charged with murder along with Yang and Zhang. Another mainlander, Wu Yiwu, 23, is charged with providing accommodation to criminals, the summary said. It did not mention the motive.

The Southern Metropolitan quoted a source related to the case as saying that the authorities were still unsure if Lau was the mastermind or was just one of the people who received orders to carry out the murder.

The trial had been  scheduled for Wednesday. But the Shenzhen People's Intermediate Court has postponed it indefinitely.



Five charged in Shenzhen with HK millionaire's tea-house murder