Writ accuses son-in-law of 'acquiring dominion' over store shareholder's mind The matriarch of the family that helped establish the Chung Kiu Chinese Products Emporium is suing her son-in-law and two daughters in a bid to regain control over her shares in the department store. In a High Court writ filed yesterday, Chan Sau-ngor, 74 - also known as Chan Shiu-ngo - claims her son-in-law, Yip Kin-chang, who is director of the company, 'acquired dominion' over her mind following a stroke in August 1997. The writ, which also names her daughters, Wong Mei-chun and Brenda Ip Wing-chun, as co-defendants, claims that since Ms Chan's stroke, Mr Yip has not passed on dividends and has made unauthorised transfers from her accounts. The 15-page document sets out alleged share transfers between Ms Chan and Mr Yip. It says Mr Yip only became a Chung Kiu director after a January 4, 1973, arrangement in which Ms Chan lent him 65 of her 215 Chung Kiu shares. The loan was made on the proviso they be returned if Mr Yip was no longer a director or if Ms Chan demanded their return. All bonus shares and dividends were to be passed on to Ms Chan, the writ says. A similar scheme was repeated on March 12, 1979, when Ms Chan lent 15 Kwok Fung Hong shares to Mr Yip in order to establish personal and business links with the company's management team. Further arrangements were made on March 15, 1980, and April 24, 1986, in relation to further Chung Kiu shares. The writ states that from July 1996, Ms Chan relied on Mr Yip to take care of her financial matters and to collect any bonus shares and dividends on her behalf. He began to act as her authorised signatory after her stroke in 1997. The writ claims that while Ms Chan was still in hospital, Mr Yip did not tell her he had collected a cheque for $14,317,500, the proceeds of the special dividend from Chung Kiu shares. It also says that between September 24 and December 16, 1997, $14,300,000 was transferred from Ms Chan to her son-in-law's bank account, followed by transactions amounting to $839,768.70. '[Mr Yip] has received and applied to his own use money received in respect of the said withdrawals and transfers,' the writ says. Ms Chan says she did not find out about the transfers until her solicitors informed her last May. The writ says Mr Yip had since refused to hand back the shares, bonus shares and dividends. It also claims that early last year, Mr Yip began to acquire control over Ms Chan's mind. On April 8, she assigned to Mr Yip, 'for love and affection as trustee', an apartment in Whampoa Garden. Ms Chan is seeking an undisclosed amount of damages, damages for wrongful conversion, $15,139,768 taken from her account, and $11,927,250 arising out of the breach of their agreement. A declaration that the shares on loan from Ms Chan are also being held by Mr Yip in trust is also being sought, as well as return of the property's deeds.
