A local delegate to the nation's top advisory body has been drawn into a 700 million yuan (HK$870 million) legal challenge by his former business partner.
Businessman Hsu Ming-chi yesterday filed a writ of summons to the High Court against seven defendants, including Lam Shu-chit, a local delegate to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
Lam has been hotly tipped to be promoted to the CPPCC standing committee in next month's annual session.
At a press conference yesterday, Hsu's solicitor Simon Si Ming-yee said his client filed the writ to recover 700 million yuan worth of shares.
Hsu had, in the 1990s, co-founded the South National real estate company with his younger brother Hsu Mingliang and Lam, in which Lam controlled half of the shares while the brothers owned the other half, Si said.
In 2000, Hsu borrowed HK$2 million from Lam, signing a deal in which he agreed that his South National shares would be transferred to Lam's company, South Asia Textile Holdings, if he failed to repay the debt in two years. "My client was hesitant … but Lam told him it could help Lam explain [the loan] to other shareholders," Si said.