HK$2.3 million in cash and valuables stolen from home of late Chinese leader Hu Yaobang’s granddaughter
Break-in is latest in spate of high-profile burglaries in Hong Kong’s wealthiest residential areas
The granddaughter of late Communist Party leader Hu Yaobang, whose death in 1989 sparked the Tiananmen pro-democracy protest, has become the latest victim in a spate of high-profile burglaries across Hong Kong.
It was revealed yesterday that about HK$2.3 million in cash and valuables was stolen from her third-floor flat in Sea Cliff Mansions on Repulse Bay Road. The break-in came to light when Hu Zhizhi, 43, and her family, who had been out of town since Saturday, returned to the city on Thursday afternoon.
Hu, who is a housewife, called police shortly before 7pm after she found her master bedroom had been ransacked. It is understood the bedroom had been locked when she left for her trip.
“Inside the bedroom, some drawers had been pried open. More than HK$1.3 million in local and foreign currency was stolen along with five luxury watches,” a police source said.
The family’s domestic helper, 32, was at home but told police she did not notice anything suspicious.
“Officers believe the burglar climbed up the building along drainpipes and entered the flat by prying open the ventilation window of the bedroom’s bathroom,” the source said.
A section of metal fence had been cut on the hillside behind the private housing estate, according to police.
