3 jailed for up to 2½ years for stealing HK$5 billion worth of antiques, art including Mao Zedong scroll in Hong Kong’s costliest heist
- Trio broke into mainland Chinese collector Fu Chunxiao’s flat to steal philatelic items and calligraphy by former Chinese leader Mao Zedong
- Robbers sold scroll worth HK$2.3 billion containing 1929 Politburo report by Mao for HK$200 to an amateur collector on morning of heist
Three men have been sentenced to up to 2½ years in jail for stealing antique stamps and revolutionary art, including a calligraphy scroll by Mao Zedong, worth an estimated total of HK$5 billion (US$637 million), making it the costliest heist in Hong Kong’s history.
The District Court heard the trio, all repeat offenders, broke into mainland Chinese collector Fu Chunxiao’s flat in Yau Ma Tei and stole philatelic items and calligraphy written by the former Chinese leader in the early hours of September 10, 2020.
The priciest collectible was a two-metre-tall scroll containing a 1929 Politburo report by Mao believed to be worth HK$2.3 billion.
It was sold for a mere HK$200 to an amateur collector that morning, who later chopped the relic in half for “convenience”, believing it was a counterfeit item.
A five-page letter by Mao in calligraphy and a 1930 handwritten poem by him, valued at HK$2.26 billion and HK$430 million respectively, were never recovered.
The burglars also traded 18 sets of 20th-century Chinese postage stamps worth 68.9 million yuan (US$10.2 million), 2,000 sheets of tailor-made commemorative stamps of Mao which Fu had ordered from Hongkong Post in 2019 for 560,000 yuan, 10 bronze plates and eight bottles of white wine.