HK woman accuses ex-boyfriend of vanishing with $3m in ‘marriage scam’

A Hong Kong woman has accused her former boyfriend of borrowing more than HK$3 million from her during their relationship under promises that they would get married, before disappearing without repaying the money, according to Sing Tao Probe, a sister publication of The Standard.

The woman, a beauty industry worker identified as So, said she met the man, identified as Luk, at a bar around five years ago, where he claimed to run a used car trading business.

She said the relationship developed quickly, and the pair moved in together in Tsuen Wan shortly after they started dating. Almost immediately, she said, he began asking her for money—initially small amounts in the tens of thousands of dollars.

Over time, the requests allegedly escalated, with total lending eventually exceeding HK$3 million within about a year.

So said she later had the man sign a written acknowledgement of debt at a law firm, covering around HK$1.8 million at the time. However, she claimed he continued to borrow money afterwards, citing business expenses, registration fees and social costs.

She added that he repeatedly promised to repay her after selling properties and allegedly said he would transfer his mother’s property to her name after their marriage.

So said she continued to support him financially because she believed his promises, but later discovered he was allegedly seeing another woman. She said she ended the relationship after realising she had been deceived.

She also claimed that on one occasion, the man asked her for bail money after saying he had been arrested, but she later found out he had gone out with another woman on the same day.

The situation worsened when So’s father was diagnosed with cancer and required costly treatment. She said that because most of her savings had already been lent to her ex-boyfriend, she was unable to fully cover the medical expenses.

Her father later died, which she said left her deeply distressed, adding that she felt she had failed to fulfil her responsibilities as a daughter.

After the breakup, So said she attempted to recover the money, but the man allegedly refused to repay and eventually disappeared. She later publicised her case online and discovered that others had also come forward with similar allegations involving the same man, including claims of unpaid business dealings and investments.

The man has not publicly responded to the allegations.

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓