A Hong Kong court has granted bail to an assistant manager of the project consultant behind a HK$336 million (US$42.8 million) renovation project at the fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court, pending a money-laundering trial.
Li Min, 33, secured bail at the High Court on Thursday after spending three weeks behind bars in connection with the city’s deadliest blaze in recent history. Her bail was set at HK$300,000, with her boyfriend also pledging HK$100,000 as surety.
Li was among seven individuals and two companies implicated in the first criminal case against those deemed responsible for the fire that broke out at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po on November 26 last year.
Mr Justice William Tam Yiu-ho ordered Li to surrender her travel documents, reside at her boyfriend’s flat in Sha Tau Kok, report to police three times a week and avoid prosecution witnesses as part of her bail conditions.
Police and the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) levelled 25 counts against the nine accused, including manslaughter, conspiracy to defraud, money laundering, attempting to pervert the course of public justice and tax evasion.
Li faces a count of money laundering for allegedly using her personal bank accounts to handle more than HK$1.37 million in illegal proceeds on behalf of Will Power Architects from October 16, 2019, to November 30, 2025.