Ex-father-in-law failed to repay HK$250,000 loan, Abby Choi murder trial hears
- Founder of TamJai chain reveals his de facto daughter-in-law, Abby Choi, was gifted over HK$120 million in cash and property, calling her his 'more mature' child.
- Ex-cop Kwong Kau allegedly pocketed HK$250,000 from the noodle tycoon and never repaid it, following a shady HK$5 million 'debt settlement' deal.
- The murder trial hears the suspect, now denied bail, begged his 'very good friend' the millionaire for legal fees in a handwritten letter from jail—a request that was wisely ignored.
- Court told the socialite's ex-husband and his brother pleaded guilty to preventing her burial, while their father contests the charges outright.
- The testimony paints a portrait of a family drowning in gambling debts, triad 'tea money', and outsized generosity from a fast-food fortune.
Brief Summary
In the increasingly tawdry murder trial of Abby Choi, the founder of the TamJai Yunnan Mixian noodle empire took the stand to reveal he was the family ATM, dispensing luxury flats and investment capital to the socialite like tips for a bowl of noodles. But his generosity didn't stop there; he also forked out a cool HK$5 million to the accused ex-cop, Kwong Kau, to allegedly 'resolve' a gambling debt issue through underworld channels, plus a bonus HK$450,000 in 'tea money' for the tabloid-worthy trouble. The elder Tam claims the former police sergeant now owes him HK$250,000, describing the loan as money thrown into a black hole, since the defendant's bank account was conveniently frozen for suspicion of, well, accepting suspiciously large transfers. After Abby's murder came to light, the accused reportedly resorted to scrawling a desperate, self-aggrandizing letter from remand asking the restaurant mogul to fund his legal defense, a request the witness dismissed after a lawyer friend advised him to ghost the suspect. The trial, which began last month, continues to paint a picture of a wealthy family ensnared by gambling debts, shady fixers, and a fatally naive trust in a pathological liar.
Why This Matters
This is not just another celebrity murder; it's a stark lesson on how the ultra-wealthy find their trust betrayed by the very people they try to buy off. When a man builds a fortune selling noodles, he expects loyalty, but this tale shows that waving millions around to solve a family crisis with a retired cop who has 'underworld' contacts is how you get your daughter-in-law dismembered and your reputation tied to a scandal. You learn that money doesn't buy problem-solving, it buys you a front-row seat to the circus of justice, where your own generosity is used as evidence of your idiocy. This story hits home because it demonstrates that no amount of wealth, gifting, or 'maturity' can shield your family from the murderous consequences of poor judgment, and that even bonafide billionaires can be played for fools by a cunning ex-policeman. Ultimately, it's a reminder that every time you lend a friend money to hire a lawyer, you might just be funding the defense of the man who conspired to kill your own family—or in this case, wisely refusing to do so.