When a Hong Kong businessman made hoax offer to murder hospital chief’s ex-wife in ‘heinous plot’ to swindle him
- Wealthy hospital chief Dr Walton Li went to the police in 1998 after receiving an offer to make his ex-wife ‘disappear’ after their expensive divorce
- Iu Shui-tai, who made the hoax offer, was found guilty of attempting to obtain property by deception and sent to prison for two-and-a-half years
“A businessman allegedly tried to swindle wealthy hospital chief Dr Walton Li Wai-tat by falsely offering to have his ex-wife murdered after she was awarded a $22.6 million divorce payout,” reported the South China Morning Post on April 13, 1999.
“Iu Shui-tai, 45, said he could make Evelyn Cheung Man-york ‘disappear’ for $800,000, prosecutor Paul Madigan told the District Court yesterday.
“Iu allegedly went to Dr Li and said he could arrange for compatriots from Taiwan to murder her during a mock robbery or a traffic accident. He also suggested she could be poisoned, the court heard.
“Dr Li went to the police.”
“Iu, proprietor of the Well Born advertising company, pleaded not guilty to attempting to obtain property by deception by falsely representing on December 29 last year that he would kill Ms Cheung.
“Judge Esther Toh Lye-ping heard that on December 24, Dr Li’s secretary received calls from the defendant, who called himself Jacky Chan, a friend of the doctor.”
Dr Li then called the police after being approached by Iu.
On April 22, 1999, the Post reported that a “businessman who tried to swindle hospital chief Dr Walton Li Wai-tat by making a hoax offer to kill his ex-wife was jailed yesterday for 2½ years.
“Judge Esther Toh Lye-ping said Iu had hatched a ‘heinous scheme’ because he was under financial stress. The judge said the defendant took advantage of the doctor’s vulnerability at an unhappy time in his life.
“‘It is true that the victim suffered no loss monetarily,’ she said. ‘But it is also true that this was a heinous scheme hatched by the defendant to appeal to the basic instincts of man.’”
