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SCMP Reporter

Ex-officer tells inquest of HK$210,000 win and Shenzhen trips for massage and girls

Constable Tsui Po-ko, who died in last year's Tsim Sha Tsui shoot-out, dished out HK$75,000 in cash from his backpack for one soccer bet in 2004 which netted HK$210,000 in winnings, a former police officer said yesterday.

To conceal the betting from his wife, Tsui had watched the match in a police station and had asked his long-term friend and colleague, Li Ngai, to deposit the winnings in Tsui's bank account, Mr Li told the Coroner's Court.

The former police officer also said he and Tsui had gone to Shenzhen regularly for massage, karaoke and to 'find some girls'.

He said Tsui had approached him  in June 2002 - when soccer betting was still illegal - to find a bookie  for a bet on a World Cup match.

'He said he wanted to place a HK$50,000 bet on Brazil in a match against Germany,' Mr Li said.

'I said I knew some people but they could not afford to accept a HK$50,000 bet. I suggested he go to Macau.'

He did not know if Tsui had placed a bet on that match but Brazil had won.

'I had never seen him gambling except for the soccer bet in 2004,' he said.

On August 7 of that year the two shared a HK$80,000 bet on Japan in a match against China, he said.

Tsui took the HK$75,000 from his backpack in a Tung Chung Jockey Club betting centre.

'I was shocked ... not because it was a large sum of money but because I thought his behaviour showed he was just waiting for this opportunity to make an investment. By investment, I mean he was betting like making an investment,' Mr Li said.

'I added in HK$5,000 to make a total bet of HK$80,000, which is a lucky number.

'The match started at 8pm that night. We ended up watching the match in the television room of the Penny Bay police station.

'His wife and daughter came home at about 5 or 6pm. He did not want them to know he was betting on soccer so I suggested going somewhere else.'

The dividend was HK$224,000, of which Mr Li got a share of HK$14,000.

'Tsui was very happy when we got the money that night. But he handed me the dividend and asked me to deposit it into his bank account. I did it on August 9,' Mr Li said. 'He must have done a lot of research before he invested in the bet. I believe the HK$75,000 was his savings.'

Mr Li, whose last posting was at the Kwun Tong police station last year, said he had got to know Tsui when they were in the police tactical unit in 1994 and became close friends five years later when they met again at the police training school.

Since 1999, he said, they had gone to Shenzhen for massage and karaoke once or twice a month.

'We both liked to find some girls. I saw [Tsui] bring two girls into a room,' he said.

Mr Li said they also regularly visited the  One Night Stand Fingercure massage parlour in Fa Yuen Street on a regular basis.

'Each of us spent less than HK$500 per trip to Shenzhen ... and about HK$250 per visit to the Fingercure, where we went once a week to once a month,' the former officer said.

They had stopped such entertainment when Mr Li got married in 2005 because 'I don't have such a need any more', he said.

Mr Li had also travelled overseas with Tsui. 'We went to New Zealand in September 2004 and he had used HK$25,000 to buy NZ$5,000. The flight was cheap, it only cost HK$4,000.

'Tsui Po-ko told me in 2006 that he wanted to quit the job two years later and go travelling in Africa. I was concerned that his family would need financial support, but I did not ask him [about that].'

Mr Li described Tsui as 'quite stubborn and determined'.

'It could be troublesome, because we are talking about teamwork in the police force and he can't work on his own,' he said.

Tsui had also told him he found his job in the force repetitive and unchallenging.



Tsui 'pulled HK$75,000 from bag for bet'