'He insulted us online': Man files police report against brother-in-law over Facebook post about funeral donations
Months after a 53-year-old woman died, a family feud has erupted between her husband and brother over donations made for her funeral, resulting in a police report being lodged about a Facebook post.
Joseph Lau, a 52-year-old project manager, was accused online by his brother-in-law Andy Cho, 60, of pocketing the late Angeline Lau's funeral donations.
Mr Lau told Shin Min Daily News that his sister Angeline died of lung cancer on March 8. She left a will stating that her estate – amounting to over $100,000 – would go to her 15-year-old son.
She named Mr Lau as the executor, which requires him to safeguard the assets and return them to the boy when he turned 21.
Mr Lau believes Mr Cho was unhappy with his late sister's will. "He never openly objected, but in the months after my sister passed away, he repeatedly approached me to 'talk about money'."
Allegations made in a Facebook post
Mr Cho accused Mr Lau and his family of pocketing funeral donations in a Facebook post on Nov 6. He wrote that his father-in-law had promised to give him the remaining funeral donations – after deducting funeral expenses – but later went back on his word.
The allegations eventually reached Mr Lau's 80-year-old father, leaving the elderly man distressed and prompting him to lodge a police report.
Man's family denies pocketing funeral's 'profit'
Mr Lau said that while their father had informally mentioned the remaining donations would go to Mr Cho, all the money collected was used for the funeral. "We even had to top up out of our own pockets. Yet he insulted us online, accusing us of taking the money."
According to the receipts Mr Lau showed Shin Min, the funeral expenses exceeded the donations collected, contradicting Mr Cho's claims of any profit.
Mr Cho told Shin Min that based on his past experiences of arranging his mother-in-law's funeral, there should have been a surplus of a few thousand dollars. "Eight months have passed since the funeral, and I still haven't seen the record book for the donations. I don't even know the actual amount."
He added that his wife had informed him of her wishes about her financial assets while she was alive, and he bore no resentment about it. Mr Cho admitted that the language he used in his Facebook was extreme, but insisted he would not take it down.
"If you have a clear conscience, why fear what others say?" he said.
In response to Stomp's queries, the police confirmed that a report was lodged.
Dispute over gold jewellery
Mr Cho claimed the dispute was not only about the funeral donations, but also because his late wife had handed over a substantial amount of gold jewellery to her family.
He said his wife had a handwritten list detailing 53 pieces, including rings, pendants, earrings, necklaces, bracelets and anklets. "I estimate the value of those items to be at least $100,000," he said.
Mr Lau, however, denies that his sister left behind any gold.
Child breaks down in tears at wake
Mr Lau also recounted that when a teacher from his nephew's school came to pay her respects, she handed an envelope containing $386 in condolence money to Mr Cho.
After she left, Mr Lau asked him to hand over the envelope, but Mr Cho insisted it was for the boy and initially refused.
During the argument, Mr Cho's son became increasingly upset and began hitting his father on the chest, crying and urging him to apologise.
The boy then ran to his mother's coffin, sobbing uncontrollably.
Mr Cho later explained that he had wanted to keep the envelope sealed as a memento for the boy. "I told them that if they really needed the money, I could withdraw the same amount from the ATM so we wouldn't have to open the envelope. But they wouldn't listen."
