Hong Kong debt collectors attach cash to notices with target’s photo in tactics shake-up

Debt collectors have resorted to a new tactic to pressure a Hong Kong businessman into repaying them, scattering dozens of notices with his face pictured on them and HK$10 (US$1.30) banknotes attached, the Post has learned.

A police source said on Wednesday that the money was attached to the notices and scattered on a busy street to entice passers-by to pick them up.

A clip posted online on Tuesday shows dozens of the debt collection notices lying along the westbound lane of Des Voeux Road Central near the junction with Morrison Street in Sheung Wan the day before.

Each notice was the size of a sheet of A4 paper and had a HK$10 bill, with about 10 pedestrians seen picking them up in the video.

“The money used in the incident amounts to about HK$1,000,” the source said, adding it was considered cheaper than hiring triad gangs to splash red paint on the target’s door or make nuisance calls.

Officers were also studying what criminal offences were involved in the incident, he said.