Blackmail money was for charity, court hears

A PhD student who filmed himself and a male member of a religious organisation indulging in sex acts and then allegedly blackmailed him out of HK$6 million said the money was for charity.

The District Court heard that the student did not want to engage in the sex acts, but did not disagree.

Cheung Ka-wo, 27, a student at Chinese University, has been charged with two counts of conspiracy to blackmail for scheming with Li Dora Kay to extort money from the alleged victim and the head of his religious organisation in April and May last year. Cheung also faces two alternative charges of blackmail. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Cheung and Li allegedly took the tapes and a newspaper cutting about a scandal involving the religious group to the chief of the organisation, asking for compensation. The chief then contacted the alleged victim, who alerted police a few days later. He had handed over HK$811,000.

Deputy Judge Cheang Kei-hong has ruled that the alleged victim can be referred to only as 'X'.

In a recorded interview played in court yesterday, Cheung told police that Li did not talk to him about demanding compensation, and he was confused and upset when he heard Li ask 'X' for HK$ 6 million. 'Dora said asking money from ['X'] was the best punishment for him. She said the money would all go to charity.'

The court heard that Li was a friend of 'X', and Cheung's 'auntie'.