SHE was once Hong Kong's star rower, having participated in the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games.
He is a millionaire businessman.
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The 72-year-old, only identified as X, first came to know Gloria Chan Hok-yan when she was working in a restaurant he used to frequent. They became close and he became her "sugar daddy" not long after.
But the relationship turned sour and Chan tried to extort HK$3 million (S$495,000) from him, by threatening to expose a sex tape of them.
Now Chan has been found guilty. The 27-year-old denied blackmail at Hong Kong District Court but was convicted on Friday of sending a letter to X, demanding the cash. The tape did not exist, the court heard.
Deputy District Judge Johnny Chan Jong-herng described Chan's testimony as "incredible".
But he also criticised X for being reluctant to testify and concealing his "pro-active role" in his intimate relationship with Chan, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post reported.
The court heard how he wrote her a love note and gave her big tips. He then offered her a job in his company for HK$10,000 a month.
Over five years, X also gave her HK$300,000. But she left his company after she became pregnant by her 29-year-old boyfriend, whom she married later. But the marriage soon deteriorated and Chan began to be sexually involved with her sugar daddy.
Chan told the court that she wrote the threatening letter because she was angry and confused when X started to avoid her.
In the letter, Chan accused him of treating her like a prostitute and wrote that she had filmed their sex acts on their first encounter.
The letter read: "I want to die very much... If I do not have good days, you would not either. Do you want the whole world to know about it? I don't care as I have nothing."
Chan demanded that X deposit HK$3 million into her account before 3pm on May 14. The man called the police and Chan was arrested.
Doubt
The judge doubted Chan's claim that she regarded X as her godfather and later treated him as her boyfriend.
He said: "In my judgment, if there was ever any paternity in the relationship between X and the defendant, the role of X was that of a sugar daddy - a man who lavishes money and gifts on a much younger woman."
X appealed for leniency for Chan after his testimony, Hong Kong's The Standard reported.
He wrote: "Miss Chan is a good girl and she had a hard time after having the baby. She was in financial difficulties and had no money to pay school fees.
"It's wrong of her to blackmail me. She did not anticipate that I would call the police. If she is found guilty, I hope the judge can give her a chance."
Sentencing was adjourned to Jan 14, pending a background report on Chan, who was remanded in custody.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
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