Hong Kong native and billionaire David Ho, a prominent Vancouver tycoon and heir to the Hong Kong Tobacco fortune, has been charged with unlawfully confining and injuring a woman he met through a chat line, Vancouver police said.
Ho, 57, also faces drug-possession, firearms and weapons-related charges after a police investigation sparked by an emergency call from his Vancouver mansion late last year.
According to police, Ho, perhaps best known for his start-up of the failed airline Harmony Airways, which ceased flying in 2007, contacted a woman over a chat line on the evening of December 28. After arranging to meet, he brought her to his home in the affluent neighbourhood of Shaughnessy.
At about 4.45 the next morning, the woman attempted to leave, but Ho allegedly blocked the door and would not let her go, said Superintendent Rob Rothwell, head of the Vancouver police investigative services section.
'The woman was able to call 911 [the emergency phone number], but was unable to provide the address of the home. While she was speaking with the operator, a violent struggle allegedly ensued in which she suffered a number of minor injuries,' Rothwell said. 'The victim fractured her ankle when she finally managed to escape. Once outside, her screams were heard by neighbours and the police were called.'
Police did not release the woman's identity.
In Ho's house, police found cannabis, cocaine and a 9mm Glock handgun, The Vancouver Sun newspaper said. It also reported that Ho was held in custody early on Monday, but was released after paying C$100,000 (HK$711,500) bail in cash.