THE Supreme Court has ordered a stay of the legal actions against fund manager Chan Sun-sun for ''misappropriation of funds''.
Yesterday's decision, which means a first-round victory for Mr Chan in his legal battle with US high-technology firm Phoenix Laser Systems Inc, was reached in the case's first hearing.
Phoenix, as plaintiff, filed lawsuits in the San Francisco Superior Court and Hongkong Supreme Court, alleging Mr Chan misappropriated $10.4 million that was to be used for a joint venture in Fujian to develop laser crystals.
The reason the Supreme Court cited for staying the case is that the US company should not file like claims in both jurisdictions as this would abuse legal procedure.
That means the company must elect whether to proceed in Hongkong or the US. If it chooses Hongkong, then the US proceedings must be discontinued.
Phoenix has already asked for a dismissal of the claim in the US.
The High Court also decided that Phoenix would be liable for the cost of proceedings to date.