Hong Kong student charged with blackmail of priest

HONG KONG - A Hong Kong student nicknamed the Chinese Warren Buffet has been accused of blackmailing a Catholic priest with intimate images, a court report said Thursday.

Economics student Cheung Ka-wo, 27, appeared in court facing charges of attempting to extort 6.3 million Hong Kong dollars ($813,000) from the priest by threatening to reveal intimate photographs showing their past relationship.

Cheung, 27, was nicknamed after the successful American investor Buffet by the local press after he made more than 1 million Hong Kong dollars ($129,000) in two days of derivatives trading.

He is alleged to have conspired with Dora Kay Li to commit the offences which occurred in April and May this year, a report in the Hong Kong Standard said.

The prosecution claims the priest, identified only as “X”, had already paid Cheung 920,000 Hong Kong dollars ($123,000).

The student is also charged with conspiracy to blackmail a Catholic churchgoer.

No plea was taken at the hearing Wednesday and the case was adjourned to prepare for its transfer to a higher court. Cheung was granted bail.