Man accused of duping antiques collector out of $577m granted bail

Wallis Wang

A 55-year-old man who allegedly cheated renowned Chinese antique collector Kot See-for of HK$577 million was granted bail at HK$1 million at Eastern Magistrates' Courts yesterday.

The jobless man, Shi Hongru, and two other defendants - 36-year-old salesman Kung Ho-yin and 49-year-old unemployed woman Chao Hang-mei - are facing one count of conspiracy to defraud, eight counts of money laundering and one count of conspiracy to money launder. No plea was taken yet.

Magistrate Edward Wong Ching-yu adjourned the case to May 29 and the case will be heard by the High Court later.

Shi was granted a HK$1 million cash bail. He was banned from leaving Hong Kong and has to report to the police daily.

Chao, Shi's wife, was earlier granted bail under the same condition while their co-defendant Kung is remanded in custody.

Shi is a mainlander staying in Hong Kong with a two-way permit, while Chao and Kung are Hongkongers.

Kung was accused of cheating Kot into investing in a Loco London Gold scam, falsely claiming that Wayshine Global Group would help Kot carry out investments.

Kung allegedly claimed Kot's account was losing money and needed further funds to maintain its investment operation from May 2016 to October 2018, luring Kot to pay more than HK$577 million to the company and other designated bank accounts.

Kung was also accused of dealing with HK$605,570, knowing it was obtained from illegal activities, between 2016 and 2018.

Shi and Chao are facing six counts of money laundering as they allegedly handled HK$42 million from crime proceeds in 2018.

Chao is also charged with another two counts of money laundering, involving over HK$145 million worth of property.

Kot, 89, has been an avid collector of porcelain from the Song and Qing dynasties, with some 800 artifacts at his home in Repulse Bay, including pieces from the Yuan and Ming dynasties.

Kot was born in the mainland and moved to Hong Kong in 1982. His father also collected antiques and founded the Tianminlou Foundation Collection, which Kot inherited.

Kot held an exhibition of his collection at Hong Kong City Hall in 1987 and at the Shanghai Museum in 1993. He was also chairman of the Min Chiu Society collectors' group, which loaned out over 300 works of art from its members for an exhibition at the Hong Kong Museum of Art in 2021.

Kot was persuaded to invest in Loco London Gold in 2016 and reported the scam in October 2018 after talking about his investment failure with family members.

The police took action a month later, arresting 12 men and two women. The force said it had cracked down on a large Loco London Gold fraud syndicate that had defrauded seven victims of HK$629 million.

wallis.wang@singtaonewscorp.com