Top banker bailed after death of Hong Kong security guard in HK$4.5m Ferrari crash
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 10 June, 2015, 3:05am
UPDATED : Thursday, 11 June, 2015, 2:39am
Clifford Lo [email protected]
The crash happened at the ground-floor entrance of the Waterfront car park in Austin Road West in Yau Ma Tei shortly before 8am, according to police.
A banker whose HK$4.5 million Ferrari was involved in a crash that killed a security guard in West Kowloon on Tuesday was granted police bail yesterday.
Robert Ebert, Deutsche Bank's head of equities for Asia-Pacific, was arrested on Tuesday night on suspicion of dangerous driving causing death. His Ferrari 458 Spider was impounded in a government vehicle plant in Ho Man Tin pending inspection.
Ebert, 48, must report back to Hung Hom police station next month, according to police. He has not been charged.
The arrest was made after the crash at the ground-level public transport interchange on Austin Road West shortly before 8am.
"We are investigating whether the car was driving beyond the speed limit of 30km/h at the time," a police source said.
Deutsche Bank declined to comment on the case yesterday.
It is understood Ebert was driving to his office at the International Commerce Centre above the public transport interchange at the time of the crash.
Robert Ebert, Deutsche Bank’s head of equities for Asia Pacific, in a photo taken from his LinkedIn profile.
According to police, the sports car ran out of control while negotiating a sharp right bend.
"It went straight into the Waterfront car park's entrance, where it slammed into plastic barriers filled with water and allegedly hit the security guard," the source said. He said flying fragments hit a Maserati sports car about to drive out the car park.
The 53-year-old security guard suffered multiple injuries and was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei, where he was declared dead at about 2pm.
Ebert was unhurt in the incident. Police said he passed a breathalyser test.
"The driver claimed his car's brakes did not work at the time of the incident," the source said, adding that police were arranging an inspection with the Transport Department's vehicle examiner.
He said police would also check security camera footage to collect evidence. "We are investigating all possibilities that may have led to the crash," he said.
Vehicle registration records showed Ebert bought the car for HK$4.53 million in January 2013.
Police figures showed 54 people died on the roads in the first five months of this year, up from 30 in the same period last year.
