Guizhou link mooted in raid on HSBC chief's Hong Kong home
Concerns that would-be criminals from parts of the poverty-stricken province are eyeing the city
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 14 October, 2015, 1:44am
UPDATED : Wednesday, 14 October, 2015, 1:44am
Samuel Chan and Clifford Lo
The suspect in the raid on The Peak home of HSBC Asia-Pacific head Peter Wong is taken away.Photo: Sam Tsang
The arrest of an illegal immigrant from Guizhou - allegedly a member of a four-man gang that plundered The Peak home of HSBC's Asia-Pacific chief - has sparked concern that would-be criminals from one of the mainland's poorest provinces could be eyeing Hong Kong as a source of quick riches.
The man, 24, was arrested on Monday evening after he went to Sha Tin Hospital to seek treatment for arm injuries he allegedly suffered while scaling barbed wire to escape with eight watches and jewellery worth HK$2.45 million with his three accomplices during Sunday night's raid.
"Initial investigations showed the gang split up to escape but he failed to find his partners and then took a taxi to Sha Tin Hospital to seek treatment," a police source said.
"He allegedly told officers that he only knew this hospital because he noticed it while on the way to Hong Kong Island to carry out the raid."
The suspect arrived at Sha Tin Hospital shortly before midnight on Sunday, hours after the gang fled from banker Peter Wong Tung-shun's mansion on Middle Gap Road.
Hospital staff alerted police after he failed to produce an identity document. He was arrested for unlawfully staying in Hong Kong. He was later transferred to Prince of Wales Hospital nearby.
Sha Tin officers felt suspicious about his injuries and alerted the Central district crime squad, which was investigating the break-in. "During inquiries, he admitted the offence to our officers," said Chief Inspector Chen Chi-cheong of Central police.
He said initial investigations showed he was one of the four men who burgled Wong's house on Sunday night.
An initial investigation showed the intruders climbed up a drainpipe and entered the second floor of the house via a window. Photo: Dickson Lee
"Less than HK$100 and a mobile phone were found on him, but no stolen property was recovered," he said.
Last night, the suspect's three accomplices were still at large. "We don't rule out the possibility that they have fled Hong Kong," the chief inspector said.
It is understood that the suspect from Guizhou entered Hong Kong illegally with his associates on Sunday, just hours before they raided Wong's residence.
A police source said he believed the three who remain on the run were also from Guizhou.
"From my experience, mainland criminals usually team up with others from the same city or province," the source said.
A gang accused of plotting and kidnapping Bossini heiress Queenie Rosita Law earlier this year was also from Guizhou.
Another police source expressed concern that more would-be criminals would come from the province after these two high-profile crimes.
"Mainland criminals usually return to their hometown after committing crimes and tell their friends and people from the same village that it is easy to make money in Hong Kong," he said.
But he said there was no indication to suggest that an increasing number of people from Guizhou were coming to Hong Kong to commit crimes.
The theft from Wong's residence was one of two high-profile crimes that happened on The Peak in 24 hours.
At about 9.30pm on Monday, two masked men escaped with HK$120,000 in cash and valuables from a Mount Kellett Road house owned by Chui Wai-kwan, 67, the seventh son of the founder of high-end restaurant Fook Lam Moon. No arrest has been made.
