A woman has been sentenced to seven years in prison for the blackmail of a wealthy businessman, referred to by court only as Mr X.

She was handed the maximum in the District Court on Thursday.

Ki Chun-yim, 38, was found guilty of nine charges of blackmailing HK$139 million from her wealthy former lover, and one count of perverting the course of justice.

Judge Browne said Ki was an "evil, ruthless and a dangerous" person, whose behavior had hurt X physically and spiritually.

X and his business partner, identified as Y, were both deemed reliable witnesses in their testimony that the defendant blackmailed X and even made death threats against him, the judge said.

The judge disbelieved the defendant's testimony that she once went to Canada to give birth to X's baby.

The judge said he believes the account was merely a way for the accused to demand more money.

The accused had private detectives track X and his family members many times and sent threatening messages to Y, the business partner, which placed X under great pressure.

The victim finally went to a psychotherapist to seek counseling.

The court heard earlier that X became acquainted with the defendant in 2006 at a bar where she had worked. The two fell into an extramarital relationship later.

After X said he wanted to break up, the defendant began blackmailing him and threatened to kill his wife, daughter and business partner if he didn't pay up.

X made several payments to the defendant up to HK$10 million in 2007, but she kept demanding HK$120 million from him.

The defendant pleaded that she needed money to support her 16-year-old daughter and parents, and emphasized she did not want to end her relationship with X.

She said the breakup had made her very sad.

The judge rejected the pleas of mitigation and characterized her actions as most "evil", and having wreaked havoc on X and his family over several years.

He said the crime has to be punished severely.

The defendant was sentenced in jail for seven years on nine counts of blackmailing and for four years for one charge of obstruction of justice concurrently, but the judge noted the maximum sentence by the District Court is seven years.

fanfeifei@chinadailyhk.com

China Daily

(HK Edition 09/09/2011 page1)