Cop Tsui Po-ko had once bet HK$75,000 on a football match with cash he carried around while jogging, the Coroner's Court heard yesterday.

Tsui's friend, constable Lee Ngai, who had resigned from police force, yesterday testified that he went out for jogging once a month in Tung Chung since 1999, after knowing Tsui for five years.

Recalling an incident on August 7, 2004, he said Tsui had betted HK$75,000 in Hong Kong Jockey Club on a football match between China and Japan. Lee betted HK$5,000.

The Japanese team won the match, and Tsui won HK$210,000.

"I was surprised that he carried HK$75,000 in cash while jogging in Tung Chung in his backpack," Lee said.

Both Tsui and Lee had gone to Tung Chung police station to watch the match. "Tsui did not want his wife to know that he had betted," Lee said adding that Tsui had asked him to put the cash reward into his bank account.

Tsui had once asked Lee to help him betting HK$50,000 in the match between Brazil and Germany in World Cup 2002, when soccer betting was not legalized. Lee, however, advised Tsui to place his bet in Macao as HK$50,000 was a big amount for illegal bookmakers.

"I did not know whether Tsui had placed his bet in Macao," Lee said.

"Tsui was a smart man and he took soccer betting as an investment. He would wait for a long time for an opportunity to bet on the match that generates high return," he said.

Both Tsui and Lee had visited New Zealand for adventure in 2004, which cost Tsui about HK$30,000.

Coroner's office Arthur Luk asked how Tsui could have got the money for the trip as he gave most of his income to his wife after spending HK$3,400 for daily necessity a month.

Lee said they had planned the trip for months, which was sufficient for Tsui to save money as he earned HK$20,000 a month.

The two also went to entertainment venues in Shenzhen and a massage parlor in Mong Kok twice a month and once a week respectively.

Lee, however, did not say that they had used sex service .

Tsui spent about HK$250 for each visit to the massage parlor.

He had also spent HK$500 each time during his trip to Shenzhen, which included transport, karaoke, massage service, food and beer, and taking out hostesses.

"Tsui had sometimes taken out two women and jokingly said that it was fun," Lee said.

He also said he didn't need such service after marriage in 2005, except on one occasion in 2006.

"Tsui and I went to Shenzhen for paragliding in February 2006. But the show was cancelled due to heavy rain. Then we went to a hotel for massage and sauna,"Lee said.

Lee had last seen Tsui on March 30, 2006, a week before the shoot-out, in Tsing Yi.

He said they would always discuss current affairs. Tsui disliked the policies formulated by former Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, he added.

Lee said Tsui was a stubborn man, who was not suitable for the police force which stressed on team spirit and obeying orders.

He said Tsui had a desire to excel and expressed dissatisfaction at work.

"Tsui had tried different positions in the police force. He always looked for adventure and change. He loved challenges and told me that he would quit the force two years after 2006. But he did not tell me how to pay his flat's mortgage after quitting the force," he said.

"Tsui wanted to tramp and travel by cycling, and climb the snow mountains in Africa. I was wondering where the money could come from," he said.

Meanwhile, the court also heard that it could not be proved that the service revolver that belonged to constable Leung Shing-yan and the one used to kill constable Tsang Kwok-hang and injure Sin Ka-keung severely in the shoot-out was the same one used in two crimes in 2001.

Constable Leung was killed and his service revolver was stolen in 2001, the same year when a security guard was also killed in the Hang Seng Bank robbery. Earlier, the court heard that the bullets used in the two killings were from the same gun.

But the rifle line of Leung's gun barrel was affected as it had been rusted in 2006, making it difficult to compare the bullets used in the Tsim Sha Tsui shoot-out with those in 2001.

(HK Edition 03/24/2007 page6)