Hong Kong police have frozen HK$30 million (USD3.8 million) in the bank account of a 36-year-old man arrested on suspicion of theft after an unusual dispute over a large Mark Six lottery win.
The case began after a group of 15 colleagues pooled money for a common lottery ticket. According to information from the South China Morning Post, among the participants were employees of the Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD).
The 36-year-old man bought the ticket and the winnings were subsequently transferred to his personal bank account. According to a source in the publication, he then refused to divide the money equally among the other participants.
This led to an argument between the colleagues. They met in the Aberdeen area on Wednesday night to try to find a solution. The talks lasted about half an hour, but the source said the man still refused to share the money.
One of the participants, a 53-year-old man, reported the matter to the police at 10:06 p.m. that night. Initial reports said he was worried that the person in whose account the money was was keeping all the winnings and disappearing. The 36-year-old man was subsequently arrested on suspicion of theft.
On September 12, Hong Kong Police Commissioner Joe Chow Yat-ming confirmed that the suspect's bank account had been frozen.
He said the investigation was being conducted by a team from the Western District Police. Authorities do not consider the case to be directly related to FEHD, despite the fact that the suspect is an employee of the department and some of the participants in the general ticket are also related to it.
This is about the special Mark Six 50th Anniversary Snowball draw on September 5. The jackpot reached a record 228 million HK dollars. The first prize fund was divided between 3.5 winning units, with each full unit carrying about 63.3 million HK dollars.
The investigation must establish the circumstances surrounding the purchase of the ticket, the agreements between the participants and the ownership of the winnings. The 36-year-old man is currently a suspect, and the claim that he embezzled funds due to other participants has not been definitively established by a court.
The case has attracted serious attention in Hong Kong not only because of the size of the sum, but also because of the unusual dispute over the ownership of a winning ticket purchased with common funds.