Tsui's cash looked to be laundered, inquest told

HK$557,000 'could have come from bank heist'

Constable Tsui Po-ko could have laundered about HK$557,000 stolen in a bank robbery in 2001 through his furtive trading in securities, futures and foreign exchange, in which he suffered a total loss of HK$371,981, the Coroner's Court heard yesterday.

Police superintendent Pang Mo-yin said a deposit of HK$200,000 in the bank account of Tsui's mother, Cheung Wai-mei, since February 2005 was believed to be part of the proceeds of the December 5, 2001, robbery. But Ms Pang told the inquest into the death of Tsui and three others she did not believe Ms Cheung would have known it was suspicious.

She believed her investigation of Tsui's finances between 2001 and last year - when he died in the Tsim Sha Tsui shoot-out - provided strong circumstantial evidence of his involvement in the robbery and shooting death of bank guard Zafar Iqbal Khan during the robbery. 'The amount of money and the time of its existence are very compatible with the allegation that Tsui was involved.'

She said Tsui had started to operate 12 investment accounts from February 2002. From then to January 2005, he had injected HK$557,718 to fund his dealings but suffered a loss of about HK$371,981 by January 2005.

From January 2002 to September 2004, Tsui earned HK$743,392 as a constable. 'I do not believe he had any other source of income to account for the HK$557,718.'

Bank records also revealed Ms Cheung had transferred HK$150,000 of her savings to Tsui in October 2004. Tsui deposited the money in cash into his Hang Seng Bank US dollar margin account two days later until he closed the account on January 31, 2005. He cleared the account and deposited HK$350,000 into his mother's account on February 22, 2005.