12th September 2026 – (Hong Kong) A 36-year-old Food and Environmental Hygiene Department health inspector has been arrested on suspicion of theft after colleagues alleged he refused to share a Mark Six jackpot worth more than HK$31 million and briefly disappeared from view.
Police said a man reported on Wednesday, 9th September, that he and several colleagues had pooled money on 5th September to buy tickets, with one male colleague handling the purchase. After the win they could not agree on how to divide about HK$30 million. Officers arrested a 36-year-old local man yesterday, 11th September, on suspicion of theft. He is being detained for inquiry, and Western District Crime Unit Team 5 has taken over the case.
The prize came from the Mark Six 50th Anniversary Snowball second round drawn last Saturday. A special snowball of HK$185 million helped lift the first-division fund to a record HK$228 million, with total stakes of about HK$365 million. First division paid HK$63.37 million for each of 3.5 winning units; second division returned HK$613,630 on 20 units and third division HK$37,400 on 875 units.
Sources say 15 staff in the department’s Market Revitalisation Section clubbed together for that draw. Inspector Ling, 36, bought the tickets and the group hit half a first-division unit, worth more than HK$31 million. After the result he would not share the money equally and later went missing. On Wednesday evening he met colleagues again and again refused an equal split. Fearing he would pocket the lot and vanish, they called police. Aberdeen Division Duty Team 5 first classified the matter as theft and sought Ling as a wanted man before yesterday’s arrest.
The shift from a workplace quarrel over uneven sharing to a formal theft investigation, and now to an arrest and detention, puts the focus squarely on whether Ling dishonestly meant to keep colleagues’ share. Police have not said publicly whether any of the prize money has been recovered.
Hong Kong has seen similar entrusted-ticket disputes before. In 2007 a woman asked a middle-aged tea-house acquaintance to buy Mark Six for her and later found she had won third division, only for the friend to keep about HK$38,000 and disappear. She reported the matter and took it to court; the defendant was jailed for six weeks but could not repay the winnings — a reminder that jackpot rows can end in criminal custody long after the draw night excitement fades.