Playboy tycoon declared bankrupt
Former playboy tycoon Louis Lo Siu-fai was declared bankrupt yesterday, ending months of speculation over which creditor would be the first to move in and recoup their lost millions.
In the end, it was HSBC that called for the bankruptcy order. Master Andy Ho Chi-yin made the order after there were no objections and the paperwork was deemed complete.
Mr Lo did not attend proceedings at the Court of First Instance and there were no legal representations made on his behalf.
Efforts by the bank to contact him at his home and office were unsuccessful.
The amount of debt called in by HSBC was not disclosed during the proceedings but is believed to be substantial.
The debt was incurred after Mr Lo, 37, acted as a guarantor for a loan from HSBC taken out two years ago.
Before yesterday's order, he had been chased by several companies filing High Court writs seeking the recovery of debts totalling more than $107 million.
In May, Wing Hang Bank filed three writs seeking almost $16.7 million from Mr Lo and three others over loans he was said to have guaranteed. Two months later, liquidated company Harvest Field Development Ltd filed a High Court application to have the former tycoon declared bankrupt. In that instance, Mr Lo allegedly owed $12.8 million.
In January 2000, Jade Point International sued Mr Lo for more than $77 million in allegedly unpaid loans used to buy units in Star House, Tsim Sha Tsui, while the Vast Honour Engineering Company sued Mr Lo and South China Holdings for $1.1 million in February 1999.
Mr Lo also hit the headlines in March after giving an account of his love life and that of his celebrity friends. After returning from a holiday in Paris, he issued an apology, blaming his kiss-and-tell claims on drugs and alcohol.
In December 2000, he was found in a coma aboard his yacht, Miracle, after a suicide attempt.
