Model Allegedly Dismembered After Funding In-Laws' Lifestyle, Hong Kong Court Hears

The dismembered remains of Hong Kong model Abby Choi were discovered in February 2023 at a suburban property, approximately six months after she decided to sell a luxury apartment that her former in-laws inhabited, a court in Hong Kong has heard. Choi, 28, had reportedly been financing the lifestyle of her ex-husband, Alex Kwong, his brother Anthony Kwong, and their parents.

Investigators found parts of Choi's body in a refrigerator and her skull and ribs in a large pot on a stove, filled with carrot and vegetable soup. Some remains are still missing.

Alex Kwong, 31, his father Kwong Kau, 68, and his brother Anthony Kwong, 35, have pleaded not guilty to murder charges and are currently on trial. If convicted, they face life imprisonment.

Cheung Yin-fa, Choi's mother, testified that her daughter had fully funded the lifestyle of her ex-husband's family, even after her divorce from Alex Kwong. She told the Hong Kong High Court that Choi's daughters-in-law had not contributed to the care of their own children, nor had they provided for their family.

The relationship between Choi and her father-in-law, Kwong Kau, a retired police officer, reportedly deteriorated in 2022 when Choi decided to sell the £5.75 million apartment she had sponsored. She intended to relocate her former in-laws to an area closer to her children's schools. Prosecutors stated the flat was registered in the former in-laws' names to circumvent stamp duty taxes.

According to Ms. Yin-fa, Choi received death threats from her father-in-law if she proceeded with the sale. Choi had allegedly described him as "scum" and a "stinking bastard," and referred to her former mother-in-law as "ungrateful."

Choi, who had a significant online following and associated with fashion elites, had posted images from Paris Fashion Week days before her disappearance. Her mother described her daughter as "truly good, so filial and well-behaved" who "trusted the wrong people."

Prosecutors claim that in the days leading up to Choi's reported disappearance, the defendants purchased equipment used to dismember and dispose of her body, including a mincing machine. A neighbor testified to hearing the sound of an electric chainsaw on February 21, 2023, the same day Choi was last seen. Another neighbor reported a foul odor emanating from the ground-floor flat.

Choi was reportedly picked up on February 21 by her former brother-in-law, whom she employed as a chauffeur, to collect her daughter from school. However, her ex-husband was allegedly waiting in the back seat of the vehicle with a hammer.

While denying murder, the two brothers have pleaded guilty to preventing the lawful burial of Choi's body, a charge their father denies.

Choi, whose mother and stepfather were wealthy business figures in Hong Kong with mainland Chinese ties, met her ex-husband at school. She had children with Kwong before their separation and later had two more children with restaurateur Chris Tam Fong-chun. Despite her new relationship, Choi continued to financially support the Kwong family, providing for the apartment, another property on the mainland, and a luxury watch.