Hong Kong-Macau tycoon Stanley Ho’s family rift comes into open as daughter Deborah mounts legal action against her sister Angela over trusts
- Deborah, a daughter of Ho’s deceased first wife Clementina Leitao, says she is ‘ill in Macau and poor’, while seeking family trust papers
- But her older sister Angela has called this a ‘fabrication’, saying Deborah has received around HK$97 million in distributions
A rift has surfaced among gaming magnate Stanley Ho Hung-sun’s next of kin over his two family trusts.
Deborah Ho, a daughter of the tycoon’s deceased first wife Clementina Leitao, triggered a legal action in the High Court last Tuesday by asking her elder sister, Angela Ho Chiu-yin, who is the trustee of The Clementina Ho Trust and The Stanley and Clementina Family Trusts, to provide her with deeds and documents related to changes to the trusts’ arrangement.
Deborah, as a beneficiary, also requested that Angela elaborate on the amount and state of property of the trusts.
Trust deeds, deeds involving removal and appointment of trustees, information of changes in the structure of the trusts, full trust accounts and financial statements and documents concerning remuneration received by Angela or other previous trustees were among the information she is seeking.
Deborah also requested that her sister provide copies of all communications that had been made between Angela or other previous trustees and their legal advisers.
The minutes of three meetings between Angela and the beneficiaries, including herself, between 2013 and 2015 in her lawyers’ firm, and the minutes and PowerPoint slides relating to a meeting on January 15 in the same location were also requested.