Before her murder and dismemberment, Hong Kong socialite Abby Choi appeared to maintain a close relationship with the family of her former husband, who is now a murder suspect, but relations soured over a multimillion-dollar dispute.

As Hong Kong police continue to piece together details and traces of body parts belonging to the mutilated fashion model, local media reports and social media sources revealed that the 28-year-old continued to support her former husband and his family financially after their divorce.

Ms Choi, who had a reported net worth of around HK$100 million (S$17.2 million) and hailed from a wealthy family with business dealings in China, also arranged for her former in-laws and two children to live in a luxury apartment. She also helped her former brother-in-law purchase a home.

Four suspects have been taken into custody. They are Ms Choi’s 28-year-old former husband Alex Kwong, his elder brother Anthony, 31, and their parents. Ms Choi married Alex Kwong when she was 18.

Ms Choi’s former father-in-law, 65, and Anthony have been jointly charged with murder, while her former mother-in-law, 63, has been charged with one count of perverting the course of justice. All three are set to appear in a local court on Monday.

Police say Alex Kwong’s father, a former cop, was behind the “meticulously planned” murder which involved tools such as a meat slicer and an electric saw. There was also the gruesome discovery of pots of soup containing human tissue that are believed to belong to Ms Choi, who went missing last Tuesday.

The elder Kwong was reportedly dissatisfied with Ms Choi’s attempted sale of an apartment worth around HK$72.8 million that was registered in his name. Lawyers had advised Ms Choi that she could take the sale proceeds of the property if she could present proof that she had been paying for it.

Mortgage records list her former father-in-law as the registered buyer in July 2019 with the property fully paid for in October that year, local media reported.

It is unclear when Ms Choi divorced Alex Kwong, but in 2016, she underwent wedding rites with Mr Tam Chuk Kwan, the son of the founder of the TamJai Yunnan Mixian eatery, without legally registering the marriage, suggesting that her assets would be inherited by her two children with Kwong.

A close acquaintance of Ms Choi, Ms Pao Jo-yee, was cited by Hong Kong media as saying that Ms Choi’s former and current partners had cordial relations.

Multiple images on Anthony Kwong’s social media accounts show Ms Choi and him posing for photos at birthday celebrations, yacht parties and a trip to Macau, where he tagged her as his “sis”.

Mr Tam was also allegedly present at one beach outing with Anthony Kwong and Ms Choi in 2022.

Anthony Kwong had been Ms Choi’s personal driver and former business partner. His Instagram page is strewn with photos hinting at his high life, including fine dining and luxury cars like a Rolls-Royce.

Local media reported that he may have personally driven Ms Choi to the village house where police suspect she was killed, under the guise of taking her to pick up her children.

On some Instagram posts where he shared images and videos alleged to be of Ms Choi’s children, netizens have left searing comments on his suspected involvement in the murder.

Ms Choi and Anthony Kwong were directors of companies that owned Bear Bear Snack, a pancake stall that was reportedly involved in contractual disputes totalling more than HK$130,000.

Before their arrests last Friday, Anthony Kwong and his parents allegedly provided misleading information in an attempt to impede investigations.

“We are still looking for the head, the torso and hands, which we believed were disposed of,” Superintendent Alan Chung from the Kowloon West regional crime unit told reporters on Saturday. A woman’s legs were earlier found in a refrigerator in the village house.

After a manhunt involving rewards amounting to more than HK$2 million, Alex Kwong was arrested at a pier on Saturday while “trying to abscond”. He had watches worth HK$4 million and around HK$500,000 in cash on him when he was nabbed.

Police said he had a criminal history and had already been on the run for six years for a separate gold investment scam.

As at Sunday, he was being held for questioning, having been taken to hospital after he complained he was feeling unwell, reported the South China Morning Post.