Businessman sues lawyer son over transferred shares and Deep Water Bay house
A businessman sued his lawyer son for the return of his share of a luxury Deep Water Bay house as well as shares in a company that he transferred to the son during his second divorce, writs filed to the High Court showed.
Keith Lam Hon-keung, former chairman of The Institute of Securities Dealers, claimed his son Anthony Lam Chi-tat and daughter-in-law Cana Cheng Shui-yee refused to give him back shares in the company after he fell ill in 2013 and needed money to pay hefty medical bills.
He filed two writs against the couple and six companies related to the share transactions.
Anthony Lam is a solicitor known for presiding over marriage ceremonies. He was born from Keith Lam's first marriage.
According to the writs, the elder Lam had two houses in Manly Villa at Ocean Park Road held by Tennyson Estate, where he was director.
He transferred 499 Tennyson shares each to his second wife Lavien Chan Lai-kuen and to the son in 1983 and 1984, respectively. Two of his employees held the rest of the shares.
He claimed all the shares were being held on trust and were not gifts to those people.
Keith Lam divorced Chan in 2008. He said his son suggested that he "confirm the beneficial interest" of the two houses to the son so Chan could not claim alimony based on the properties.
The father sold one of the houses in 2011 to settle the divorce with Chan, who agreed to transfer her Tennyson shares to Anthony Lam, the writ says.
But, it says, Anthony Lam and Cheng refused to support Keith Lam's treatment in 2013, whereupon the father realised his son had misinformed the Companies Registry that he quit as Tennyson director in February 2014.
The couple also moved shares in other firms that they were holding on trust to their own firms without the father's knowledge or consent, Keith Lam said.
