Hong Kong woman jailed for sex tape HK$500,000 blackmail bid after affair with married restaurant executive

A 32-year-old woman was jailed for 2½ years on Tuesday for the attempted blackmail of a married senior executive at a Hong Kong restaurant chain over their affair.

Wong Sa-sa, a former restaurant worker, demanded up to HK$500,000 (US$63,700) from the man and threatened to release intimate pictures and publicise their relationship if he failed to pay up.

Deputy district judge Jacky Ip Kai-leung said that the accused had taken advantage of the man’s reputation when she issued the threats, which caused so much stress he needed psychological treatment.

But Ip accepted the level of intimidation was not the highest compared with similar cases, and that the woman had acted alone and had not received any money.

The District Court found after trial earlier this month that Wong had harassed the man with dozens of intimidating text messages over a 27-day period in September and October last year in a bid to force him to pay her the cash to keep his infidelity a secret.

The court heard that Wong started an affair with the senior executive in early 2021 because of difficulties in her own marriage.