Judge extends Convoy court hearing to September, as plaintiffs seek time to add Hong Kong’s ‘Toy King’ to the list of defendants

Francis Choi Chi-ming, a Hong Kong entrepreneur who built his fortune producing toys for brands such as Mattel, will be added to a growing list of defendants in a lawsuit over the city’s biggest financial scam in decades, according to the plaintiffs.

Choi, known as the “Toy King”, will join 27 other defendants in a lawsuit brought by Convoy Global Holdings at the High Court. Mr Justice Jonathan Harris adjourned the hearing of the suit to September for Convoy’s legal team to amend their writ.

The latest development is a twist in the unprecedented joint investigation by Hong Kong’s market regulator and anti-corruption body into allegations of fraud involving HK$4.4 billion (US$561.74 million) at Convoy, a local financial services provider that counts the city’s mandatory employees fund as its customers.

At the centre of the scandal is former Convoy director Roy Cho Kwai-chee, a Hong Kong-trained medical doctor turned securities investor. Cho, who wasn’t present at the court hearing, stands accused of being the mastermind in a series of transactions that bilked Convoy of billions of dollars.

Cho’s flagship company Town Health International Medical Group is also at the centre of up to 50 companies – dubbed the Enigma Network – with cross holdings to each other, which regulators claim have conspired to entrap minority investors.

Crystal Choi, the daughter of the toy producer, is chairman of Town Health, while Choi himself is vice-chairman and non-executive director of the clinic operator.

Both Convoy and Town Health are under the largest anti-graft investigation in Hong Kong. The Independent Commission Against Corruption and the Securities and Futures Commission executed a search warrant on February 9 at the premises of Town Health but made no arrest.