Prosecutors in Hong Kong told a High Court trial on September 30 that the 2023 murder of socialite Abby Choi Tin-fung was a planned plot orchestrated by her former father-in-law and his two sons over a financial dispute involving a luxury apartment.
The trial opened in Hong Kong, bringing renewed attention to the gruesome 2023 murder of Choi, whose dismembered remains were found across a rural village house days after she went missing. Her ex-husband Alex Kwong, his brother Anthony Kwong, and their father Kwong Kau are standing trial before a nine-member jury after pleading not guilty to murder. Alex Kwong and Anthony Kwong have pleaded guilty to preventing the lawful burial of a body, while Kwong Kau has denied that charge.
Abby Choi was born to a wealthy family in Hainan, China, and had worked as a prominent model and socialite who rubbed shoulders with showbiz elites at fashion events. She also appeared in Elle, Vogue, and Harper’s Bazar, and was regularly invited to Paris Fashion Week, while decorating the cover of the online edition of the Monaco fashion magazine Loficiel. She had married Alex Kwong when she was only 18 after becoming pregnant, and the couple shared two children before later divorcing, with Choi subsequently having another two children with her second husband Christopher Tam.
The Property Dispute Over the Luxury Apartment in Ho Man Tin
Choi had let her former father-in-law live in the luxury apartment, which was valued at HK$72 million (S$11.7 million), while she maintained a generous financial arrangement to support her ex-husband’s family, who had no economic activity.
Tensions escalated in 2022 when Choi decided to sell the property and relocate her former in-laws to another area so that her children could attend school nearby. Draycott stated that Kwong Kau grew extremely resentful and angry
over her insistence on the sale. Although he initially refused, declining to sign paperwork or cooperate with property agents until threatened with legal action, he eventually signed paperwork allowing the sale to proceed and moved into a rental home. Prosecutors argued that Kwong Kau and his sons came up with a plan to kill Choi so that he could keep the apartment, believing he could move back into the unit in the event of her death.
Money seems to be the root cause of this case.
Charlotte Draycott, Lead Prosecutor
Shopping Spree and Preparations for the Murder in Tai Po
Days before the killing, the former father-in-law and brother-in-law engaged in what prosecutors described as an ominous shopping excursion. Investigators later discovered Choi’s remains inside a rental house in the rural Tai Po district that Kwong Kau had arranged to rent.
On February 21, 2023, Choi believed she was embarking on a routine car journey to pick up her daughter from school. Anthony later picked Choi up while Alex joined the vehicle at another location. During the journey, Choi exchanged text messages with her mother-in-law that stopped at 2:44 pm. Police Superintendent Alan Chung noted that a pathologist identified a hole on the right-side rear of the skull, pointing to the fatal attack on the victim.
Arrests and Ongoing High Court Proceedings
The trial of the former in-laws had faced an initial postponement before getting underway. Audiences had lined up outside the court from early morning to attend the proceedings. If found guilty of murder, the defendants face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment in a Hong Kong court.
Following the recovery of the body parts, the bereaved family restored the missing parts using 3D printing in order to perform a funeral for the socialite.
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