Evergrande founder’s ex-wife gets US$26,000 monthly expense in UK amid asset freeze
Hui Ka-yan’s ex-wife Ding Yu Mei lives in a luxury apartment in London and has US$4 million in her UK bank account, according to court documents
A UK court allowed Ding Yu Mei, the ex-wife of China Evergrande Group founder Hui Ka-yan, to spend as much as £20,000 (US$26,187) a month after freezing her assets in a case brought by developer’s liquidators.
The move is part of efforts aimed at recovering about HK$2.8 billion (US$359 million), the sum paid through two of her corporate vehicles as dividends between 2018 and 2020. Ding was allowed the monthly living expenses and to pay legal fees of as much as £350,000 in August, according to court documents.
She held a 5.99 per cent stake in Evergrande, according to stock exchange filings last year. Ding has over US$4 million in her UK bank account, according to a court document dated August 29. Ding, 67, lives in a luxury London apartment that is part of Thames City, a project developed by CC Land Holdings, a Hong Kong-listed firm chaired by Hui’s long-timed friend Cheung Chung-kiu.
Lawyers for Ding declined to comment while lawyers for Evergrande’s liquidators did not return messages seeking comment.
Evergrande’s liquidators is seeking to recover US$6 billion in dividends and remuneration from Hui, Ding, former CEO Xia Haijun and former CFO Pan Darong. A Hong Kong court in January ordered Evergrande’s winding-up, kick-starting one of China’s biggest liquidation cases.