Frenzy as cash rains down on HK neighbourhood

HONG KONG: A hail of banknotes rained down onto the streets of a working-class neighbourhood here, sending bystanders into a frenzy — but the man who claimed to be behind the stunt was arrested yesterday.

Bills worth thousands of Hong Kong dollars were seen fluttering to the ground from the top of a building, as people tried to grab the falling cash and others filmed the scene on their smartphones.

A man who runs a cryptocurrency Facebook page livestreamed the prank on Saturday in the Sham Shui Po district.

“I wonder if any of you believe money could fall from the sky?” he said, before the camera panned to the top of a nearby building, which saw flurries of HK$100 (RM53) bills flying down like confetti.

Wong Ching-kit — known online as “Coin Young Master” — said in a Facebook post that he wanted to “help the poor by robbing the rich”.

But the 24-year-old was arrested yesterday for causing disorder in a public place, after he drove back to the neighbourhood in his Lamborghini.

Police said they had recovered about HK$6,000 in HK$100 bills.

Crytocurrency has been huge source of wealth for some in recent years, and last year saw the meteoric rise of hundreds of virtual currencies led by bitcoin.

However, the unit has slumped from US$20,000 (RM84,000) at the end of last year to around US$3,235 currently.