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Alex Kwong Kong-chi retrieved luxury timepieces and HK$1.4 million in cash from a Kowloon watch dealer just hours after learning that his former wife, socialite Abby Choi, had been reported missing to police, the High Court heard on the 29th day of her murder trial.
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Surveillance recordings presented by the prosecution detailed how Choi’s former husband ventured out to collect the high-value assets in Tsim Sha Tsui on February 22, 2023, while his family members scrambled to move vehicles, discard items, and evade imminent police scrutiny across Hong Kong.
Kwong, 29, his father Kwong Kau, 66, and his elder brother Anthony Kwong Kong-kit, 33, are on trial before Deputy High Court Judge Brian Keith for the murder of the 28-year-old model and heiress at a village house in Lung Mei, Tai Po. All 3 defendants have denied murder while pleading guilty to a joint charge of preventing the lawful burial of a body.
Midday collection outside Tsim Sha Tsui luxury watch shop
Security camera footage played during the testimony of Ng Tai-shing, a former exhibits officer, showed Alex Kwong leaving his residence at The Arch in West Kowloon shortly before 1pm on the day following Choi's disappearance.
Kwong traveled directly to Noble Watch and Jewellery in Tsim Sha Tsui to reclaim deposited valuables and funds. Outside the shop on the street level, a watch firm employee, Chan Leung-hang, handed Kwong 2 separate carrier bags before Kwong quickly departed.
Earlier testimony from Chan confirmed that the 2 bags contained high-end timepieces and HK$1.4 million in cash, which Kwong had previously deposited with the dealership. Kwong then traveled straight back to West Kowloon, with building surveillance capturing him returning to the lobby of The Arch at 1.43pm carrying the retrieved items.
Family panic and flight following missing persons report
The retrieval of the luxury watches came against a backdrop of escalating panic within the Kwong family after Choi’s mother, Cheung Yin-fa, alerted authorities that her daughter had vanished. Earlier evidence revealed that when Cheung phoned Alex Kwong to state that she had contacted the police roughly 8 hours after Choi went missing, Kwong reacted with extreme agitation and profanity over being kept in the dark.
Interior surveillance from the Kwong family’s flat at Kadoorie Hill in Ho Man Tin captured the tense moments immediately afterward around 12.20am on February 22. Kwong was seen preparing to depart while his mother, Jenny Li Sui-heung, questioned him about the exact timing of the police report.
After Kwong confirmed that the notification had just occurred, his mother urgently pressed him to leave immediately, warning that law enforcement officers could arrive at their doorstep at any second and expressing her acute fear. Kwong acknowledged her distress before boarding an urban taxi that took him to The Cullinan by 12.40am, setting the stage for his watch shop excursion later that day.
Overnight car movements and discarded items in Lung Mei Village
While Alex Kwong was coordinating his movements in Kowloon, his father and elder brother were tracked operating around the Tai Po crime scene. Surveillance footage from the afternoon of Choi’s disappearance on February 21 showed Anthony Kwong driving a white seven-seater away from Lung Mei Village toward Tai Po Mega Mall around 4pm, while Alex Kwong left the village on foot at 3.45pm before resurfacing at a convenience store in Tsim Sha Tsui around 2 hours later.
By 8pm, Anthony Kwong took a taxi to meet his father, and the 2 men returned together in another vehicle to the Lung Mei Village house around 10pm, where the car remained stationary overnight.
Shortly before 6am on February 22, Kwong Kau repositioned the vehicle so that its boot directly faced the front door of the ground-floor flat. Anthony Kwong then transferred a large bag into the rear compartment before both men departed. Around 6.06am, nearby cameras recorded an individual stepping out of the vehicle and 3 times throwing items into a public refuse collection bin near a village restaurant.
Trial judge advises jury to maintain mutual understanding
Earlier in the proceedings, Judge Keith addressed the jury regarding an informal inquiry that jurors had directed to the court clerk on the previous afternoon. The judge reminded the panel members to show mutual understanding and patience toward one another, emphasizing that juries are composed of individuals from varied walks of life and diverse personal backgrounds.
Following a morning recess, the judge also addressed a formal request from the jury seeking to inspect multi-angle surveillance recordings capturing the 2 vehicles entering Lung Mei Village. Judge Keith told the jurors that the prosecution had noted their request and would evaluate the technical and procedural feasibility of providing the additional footage.
The trial continues before Judge Keith in English, with Senior Counsel Charlotte Draycott leading the prosecution alongside senior department prosecutors. Anthony Kwong is represented by Trevor Beel, Kwong Kau by Oliver Davies, and Alex Kwong by Andrew Raffell.
