A mainland-born businessman snared in top-level political intrigue in Latin America has failed in his bid to unlock tens of millions of dollars from an alleged drug trafficking fortune frozen in Hong Kong bank accounts.
Chinese-Mexican pharmaceutical entrepreneur Zhenli Ye Gon is behind bars in the United States battling extradition to Mexico over alleged links to one of the world's biggest narcotics rackets.
He had hoped to use the Hong Kong money to sustain his five-year legal battle to stave off his forced return to Central America, where he fears his life would be in danger.
But in a judgment just handed down by Hong Kong's Court of Appeal, three judges rejected his bid to have US$10.217 million released from Bank of China accounts in the city. Hong Kong's secretary of justice froze the accounts in December 2009 after an application from the Mexican government.
A legal source close to Zhenli Ye Gon - whose notoriety earned him the nickname 'El Chino' in the US and Mexico - described the decision as 'disappointing' in light of the legal cost of his extradition battle.
According to court documents, the funds are held in accounts linked to the businessman and also a Hong Kong registered company Unimed, of which he is a director.
The Mexican authorities say Zhenli Ye Gon smuggled 70 tonnes of chemicals used to make methamphetamine into the Central American country between 2005 and 2007. They also seized US$205 million in cash, weapons, jewellery and vehicles from his mansion in Mexico City.