A Hong Kong woman has received a 10-year prison sentence for her role in a gang-led extortion scheme that involved luring victims to a secluded location for assault and blackmail.
The High Court delivered the sentence for 23-year-old Hau Yan-ki on Tuesday, following a jury’s rejection of her defense that she believed she was merely assisting friends in debt collection.
Hau was one of six individuals—comprising two women and four men—apprehended in connection with a series of extortion activities carried out by the gang in November 2020.
At the age of 17, Hau used social media and dating applications to locate targets, subsequently persuading them to travel via taxi to a remote area in Yuen Long.
The gang’s victims, which included four men and one woman, were physically assaulted and coerced into transferring funds to the group before being released.
During the ordeal, a female victim, referred to in court as X, was subjected to extreme degradation, including being forced to perform sexual acts and undress while being recorded by the gang.
