Young mother targeted by China ‘shadow police’ in UK denies fraud, court hears
A young mother has denied defrauding her former Hong Kong employer out of around £16 million before she was allegedly targeted by spies in the UK, a court heard.
Personal assistant Monica Kwong left Hong Kong in 2023 with her young son amid accusations of fraud, which she has said was a “set-up” by her influential employer, Tina Zou.
Ms Kwong was allegedly targeted by UK Border Force official Peter Wai, known as Fatboy, on behalf of Chinese authorities.
Dual Chinese-British national Wai, 38, and retired Hong Kong police superintendent Bill Yuen, 65, are on trial at the Old Bailey on charges under the National Security Act.
The defendants were arrested after a team of operatives forced their way into Ms Kwong’s home in Pontefract.
On Thursday, Ms Kwong was quizzed by defence barristers about the background to the alleged fraud in China which had led the men to her door.
Ms Kwong told jurors that she was “doing what I was told” and would not “think about the reasons”, while working for HK YearShine Investment Ltd.
The court heard that over an 18-month period between July 2022 and December 2023, 118 transactions and cheques worth around £16m passed through Ms Kwong’s five bank accounts.
The former personal assistant insisted that the money would be in her account for just “three days” before being sent elsewhere.
Aftab Jafferjee KC, representing Wai, asked: “What did you think, on your version of events, you were doing?”
“I was not allowed to ask a lot of questions about what I was doing,” replied Ms Kwong.
Mr Jafferjee continued: “If tens of millions of (HK) dollars are going through your name and into your account and then out again, you say, what did you think about it?”
“I would not think about the reason, it is quite common,” said Ms Kwong.
Ms Kwong did accept that she knew the “secrets” of her former employer, the Beijing-based Australian national Ms Zou, over the five years of working for her.
“Do you remember how many cheques you wrote out, one or two, or lots?” Mr Jafferjee asked.
“Lots,” she replied.
She was accused by Mr Jafferjee of forging cheques with her employer’s signature, which she denied.
Discussing why she came to the UK, Ms Kwong told the court she feared that she would be arrested by Chinese police.
“Even in Hong Kong this will maybe happen as well, that’s why I was worried, they can take anyone,” she said.
Jurors have heard that Wai was tasked by Yuen to engage in a “shadow policing” operation in the UK targeting Hong Kong dissidents and pro-democracy campaigners and British politicians on behalf of China.
Their activities were exposed on May 1 2024 when they allegedly attempted to “take hold of” Ms Kwong.
When a team of operatives broke in, police swooped in to arrest 11 people including Wai and Ms Zou who was found on the stairs leading up to her former employee’s flat.
In messages about the spying operation on Ms Kwong, a reference was made to killing her in the UK.
The court heard that Bao Zhao, a businessman involved with the operatives, sent a message to Ms Zou saying: “The South Asia Organisation said they will kill her in the UK, I said that is not the purpose.
“The purpose is to get the people in. To get the money out. The money is our purpose.
“Must do things in a steady way, not rushed, troubles are the result of rushing.”
“Yes haha I quite like this project. So exciting,” Ms Zou replied.
Wai and Yuen are jointly charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service between December 20 2023 and May 2 2024, and a second charge of foreign interference on May 1 2024 by forcing entry into a UK residential address.
Wai is also accused of misconduct in a public office by misusing his access to the Home Office computer system.
Wai, of Staines-upon-Thames, Surrey, and Yuen, of Hackney, east London, have denied the charges against them.
The trial continues.