The former mother-in-law of slain Hong Kong socialite Abby Choi Tin-fung has secured a HK$200,000 (US$25,630) bail after spending more than a year in custody pending trial for allegedly perverting the course of justice.
Mrs Justice Judianna Barnes of the High Court agreed on Friday to release Jenny Li Sui-heung on HK$100,000 cash bail, with her nephew providing another sum of the same amount as surety.
Li was barred from leaving Hong Kong and contacting any prosecution witness by any means.
Barnes singled out Choi’s mother, husband, parents-in-law and two of Li’s grandchildren as people the accused must not contact under any circumstances.
Li is required to report to police three times a week, surrender her travel documents within two weeks of her temporary release and seek permission from the court if she needs to spend a night anywhere other than her new residential address in Tuen Mun.
The court also barred Li from going to three locations: her former home on Kadoorie Hill, a residential block in Lai Chi Kok’s Manhattan Hill and a house in Kowloon Tong.
The judge warned Li against any attempt to escape, adding: “If you run away, the HK$100,000 will be gone.”
The defendant responded: “I won’t.”
The 64-year-old woman was initially charged with perverting the course of justice over allegedly destroying evidence against her in relation to Choi’s slaying in February 2023.
The charge details were later amended to accuse Li of obstructing a police investigation into a 2015 theft case involving her son Alex Kwong Kong-chi, who was Choi’s ex-husband.
Li faces up to seven years in prison if she is found guilty in the District Court. She had been detained for more than 14 months before Friday’s hearing.
The killing of Choi shocked Hong Kong when police found her skull, legs and some broken ribs inside the ground-floor flat of a three-storey village house in Tai Po’s Lung Mei Tsuen village.
Alex Kwong, 29, his father Kwong Kau, 66, and older brother Anthony Kwong Kong-kit, 33, have been remanded in custody on a joint murder charge. They will be tried in the High Court.
Yacht rental agent Lam Shun, 43, and jobless Irene Pun Hau-yin, 30, have been jointly charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice for allegedly facilitating Alex Kwong’s attempt to flee Hong Kong. They are expected to enter a plea at Kowloon City Court.
