Hong Kong court rules appeal by ex-girlfriend in lawsuit against Stephen Chow is without merit
- The former long-term girlfriend had been seeking HK$80 million in what she characterised as unpaid investment commissions
- A panel of judges found a lower court had not made any errors of law in deciding to toss out the suit
An appeal by a former girlfriend of Hong Kong’s “King of Comedy” Stephen Chow Sing-chi against a ruling that denied her HK$80 million (US$10.3 million) in unpaid investment “commissions” had no merit, the High Court said on Friday.
Explaining the bench’s unanimous dismissal of Alice Yu Man-fung’s claim last month, Court of Appeal vice-president Madam Justice Susan Kwan Shuk-hing said it was clear the trial judge did not make any errors of law in his “comprehensive” 140-page ruling rejecting the claim last year.
While Yu had maintained that she had a legally binding oral agreement with Chow to share profits and argued that Mr Justice Russell Coleman had erred in his findings, Kwan said the appellate process was not designed to give a litigant a platform to advance the same submissions in the hope that the Court of Appeal might be persuaded to reach a different view.
“[Coleman’s] comprehensive judgment demonstrated his total familiarity with the issues and the evidence,” Kwan explained in a 30-page decision. “The correct approach in reviewing such a conclusion is to treat the judge’s decision with utmost respect, and refrain from interference unless satisfied that it proceeded upon some erroneous principle or was plainly wrong.”
The two other judges on the appeals bench are justices Aarif Barma and Thomas Au Hing-cheung.
Chow, 59, made his name as an actor and director in blockbusters such as Fight Back to School, From Beijing with Love, King of Comedy, Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle. His ex-girlfriend, Yu, is the daughter of the late Yu Ching-po, a successful businessman who founded Hong Kong Construction (Holdings).
The pair had a romantic relationship for 12 to 13 years – until March 2010 – during which Yu also assisted Chow with personal investments and was paid a salary based on a written contract from 2002, initially at HK$20,000 a month.
It was undisputed that Chow had paid Yu HK$19.5 million at her request between 2007 and 2011, and an additional HK$10 million in February 2012 in “appreciation for [her] friendship and support over the years”.
But at the heart of Yu’s case, filed in September 2012, was her assertion that there was an additional oral agreement purportedly reached around Christmas of 2002 for Chow to pay her a 10 per cent share of net profits on all successful investments she recommended.
Yu’s claim for damages of some HK$80 million was based on her purported share of the profits from Chow’s investments in his current luxury home at 12 Pollock’s Path on The Peak, three houses at The Beverley Hills in Tai Po and a private equity fund.
Hong Kong court rejects appeal by ex-girlfriend of Stephen Chow in fight over millions
Chow, whose name was spelled Chiau in court documents, did not dispute there was an offer to share profits, but said it was just a monetary gift made “out of love” as they were chatting over a glass of wine on the balcony of his home on The Peak one night after dinner in 2002.
Coleman concluded that the casual setting, imprecise language and lack of discussion on the 10 per cent figure suggested that the so-called profit-sharing talks amounted to a loose arrangement between boyfriend and girlfriend as befitting a gift, and not any kind of binding commercial agreement.
