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Saturday, Feb 22, 2025
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Lover jailed for blackmail bid on catering boss
A 32-year-old woman was sentenced to 30 months in prison yesterday in a district court for attempting to blackmail her boss for HK$500,000 by threatening him with the release of their sex photos.
Wong Sa-sa appeared before deputy judge Jacky Ip Kai-leung, who said he had to hand down a deterrent sentence as Wong had tried to take advantage of the prominent public profile of her boss, who had to consult a psychiatrist for two months afterward.
The court heard that Wong's blackmail bid on her boss - a married manager of a local catering enterprise with whom she had an affair - came after he decided to end their intimate relationship.
From September to October last year, Wong menaced him in multiple ways, including threatening to leak intimate photos of him that she had secretly taken, putting up posters to reveal their affair on top of the blackmail bid, after which he had to undergo psychotherapy and needed to take sleeping pills.
In mitigation, Wong's lawyer said leniency could be shown given that her methods were relatively "mild" and that she had neither threatened to hurt the victim's family nor ended up eventually making the photos public.
Ip dismissed the contentions, saying she had tried to smear the victim's reputation and cause him anxiety by taking advantage of his prominence in the community, as a result of which she should be harshly punished as a deterrent.
Wong's father was also said to be chronically ill from fluid accumulation in his lungs, but Ip was of the opinion this did not constitute a mitigating factor.
Wong committed the act only because she was motivated by a "deep love" for the victim, the defense argued, noting that her actions had resulted in the dissolution of her own marriage.
Wong was said to be divorcing her husband, who nevertheless wrote a mitigation letter for her in which he revealed he had known her for 10 years since they were in school together and that he believed she had only committed the act as she "was lost" and that she was fundamentally good-natured.
The victim has said his relationship with Wong became official on February 20 last year, but he tried to break it off after their first sexual encounter because of Wong's "incessant" texting.
He also testified that "financial support," involving monthly allowances of HK$20,000 to HK$30,000 paid to Wong, was the foundation of their relationship because "it just worked out."
The court heard that Wong's blackmail bid on her boss - a married manager of a local catering enterprise with whom she had an affair - came after he decided to end their intimate relationship.
From September to October last year, Wong menaced him in multiple ways, including threatening to leak intimate photos of him that she had secretly taken, putting up posters to reveal their affair on top of the blackmail bid, after which he had to undergo psychotherapy and needed to take sleeping pills.
In mitigation, Wong's lawyer said leniency could be shown given that her methods were relatively "mild" and that she had neither threatened to hurt the victim's family nor ended up eventually making the photos public.
Ip dismissed the contentions, saying she had tried to smear the victim's reputation and cause him anxiety by taking advantage of his prominence in the community, as a result of which she should be harshly punished as a deterrent.
Wong's father was also said to be chronically ill from fluid accumulation in his lungs, but Ip was of the opinion this did not constitute a mitigating factor.
Wong committed the act only because she was motivated by a "deep love" for the victim, the defense argued, noting that her actions had resulted in the dissolution of her own marriage.
Wong was said to be divorcing her husband, who nevertheless wrote a mitigation letter for her in which he revealed he had known her for 10 years since they were in school together and that he believed she had only committed the act as she "was lost" and that she was fundamentally good-natured.
The victim has said his relationship with Wong became official on February 20 last year, but he tried to break it off after their first sexual encounter because of Wong's "incessant" texting.
He also testified that "financial support," involving monthly allowances of HK$20,000 to HK$30,000 paid to Wong, was the foundation of their relationship because "it just worked out."
