‘Dragon Slaying Brigade’ bomb plot ringleader used HK$300,000 from crowdfunding to gamble, Hong Kong court hears
- Mastermind Wong Chun-keung says: ‘there were quite a lot of donations at that time. I used about HK$300,000 of the donations to gamble. For me, it was a way to de-stress’
- Court also told Wong did not inform team of escape plan, bought tickets only for himself and another member to get out of city
Plot mastermind Wong Chun-keung also said on Monday in cross-examination that he was beaten and slapped in the face by police during an interrogation after his arrest on December 8, 2019.
The court earlier heard Wong’s evidence that suggested he used a Telegram channel that was for the sole purpose of raising funds for his team, which comprised about 10 protesters, between November and December 2019.
Last week, Wong told the court the channel received about HK$300,000 within a month and used some of the donations to buy firearms and plan an escape to Taiwan.
But in the witness box on Monday, Wong admitted to using money gained from crowdfunding to gamble, with the earliest transaction made in September that year.
“There were quite a lot of donations at that time. I used about HK$300,000 of the donations to gamble. For me, it was a way to de-stress,” he said. “It was not a good approach indeed, but this was what I thought at that time.”