Unemployed Hong Kong man blackmailed property management firm, court hears

An unemployed man blackmailed a property management firm into paying him HK$30,000 by threatening to cause trouble at a Sai Wan Ho public housing estate by lodging complaints with authorities and the press, a court heard yesterday.

Andy Li Kwok-kwong, 45, pleaded not guilty to two counts of blackmail and two counts of criminal damage at the District Court.

Wong Wing-to, a director of Kai Fu Property Services, said his company was afraid that complaints to the Housing Department would lead to the firm losing the contract to manage Hing Tung Estate.

Wong said that in early October last year, a colleague told him that Li, a resident of the estate, demanded money from the firm, saying if he didn’t get it he would cause trouble on the estate.

“I was worried about that,” Wong said. “He was initially asking for HK$50,000 to HK$60,000. I said we could not afford it. He then asked for HK$20,000 to HK$30,000.”

Wong told the court that Li threatened to lodge complaints about hygiene at the estate with the Housing Department, the Ombudsman and the press.