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Joyce Man

A woman who claimed Grande Holdings president Christopher Ho Wing-on owed her HK$30 million  won her court case against him yesterday.
Lo Yuk-yee, director of Maxx Capital Finance, had filed to enforce the debt, in the form of a promissory note, claiming for the amount in the Court of First Instance.  
Maxx extended two loans, HK$55 million and HK$40 million, to Grande  last year. Lo said Ho had given her the promissory note and a cheque for HK$34 million in consideration and as an inducement for the second loan. The cheque was dishonoured. Ho subsequently paid her HK$4 million, leaving the HK$30 million outstanding. 
Ho, who had previously been a partner at Ernst & Young, claimed that he had promised to pay on the condition that Lo provided DNA proof that he was the father of her daughter. It was alleged that their once-intimate relationship had cooled and that Lo had claimed he was the father to spice things up.
Mr Justice Anselmo Reyes ruled against him yesterday. 
'Mr Ho's version of events does not make sense  ... in light of the documents and in light of the way in which, on the balance of probability, ordinary people would have conducted themselves,' he said. 
There had been undisputed evidence that the father was Lo's now-estranged husband, he said. The judge questioned why Lo would have agreed to the condition, given her daughter was not fathered by Ho.
Lo said she had sold two properties prematurely to make the first loan to Ho, losing HK$19 million. 
Grande had been facing cash-flow problems because of Mareva injunctions imposed in relation to proceedings concerning Akai Holdings, according to the judgment. 
The electronics company collapsed in 2000 owing more than US$1.1 billion in debt.
Ho had previously been accused of being involved in stripping assets from Akai,  the liquidators of which brought a case against him and Grande claiming up to US$500 million. Ho and Grande denied the allegations made against them. Last year, the parties settled the case. 
Besides Akai, Grande -  established in 1987 - owns  Sansui, Nakamichi and Emerson.



Grande Holdings boss ordered to pay HK$30m debt