Ho now sues to recover assets
By Farah Master and James Pomfret |
January 28, 2011, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
MACAU'S gambling magnate Stanley Ho has filed a court claim against his children to recover his assets, according to a signed court document, in another U-turn in a feud over the ailing tycoon's empire.
Just a day earlier, Ho, chairman of Macau's biggest casino operator SJM Holdings, had given a television interview saying he would not sue and that he wanted to resolve the matter privately with his family to end the feud.
The latest move in the zig-zagging tussle for the 89-year-old tycoon's billions of dollars of assets suggests an intensification in the scramble between factions of Ho's family, which includes four wives and at least 17 children.
Ho's lawyer, Gordon Oldham, said yesterday he had filed a court claim on Ho's behalf against his children including Pansy and Lawrence Ho, other relatives and companies.
A copy of the court claim filed at Hong Kong's High Court obtained by Reuters stated that Ho was suing his third wife and the five children of his second wife for issuing new shares in Lanceford, the main holding company for Ho's interest in SJM, without his consent, effectively diluting Ho's stake to nothing.
The writ, signed by Ho, sought a reversal of the transaction and a declaration that the "shares were improperly and unlawfully allotted" while seeking an injunction to "restrain each of them" from making further share allotments or disposals.
"Regarding his statement on television, this was not his sentiment. He wants to continue. He is trying to get his wealth back," Oldham told Reuters in a telephone interview.
"He had been pressurised into making that statement."
Oldham said later the family was discussing matters.
For centuries a sleepy Portuguese outpost down the coast from bustling trade hub of Hong Kong, Macau made gambling its business in a region where most betting has long been illegal. It reverted to Chinese rule in 1999, two years after Hong Kong.
Ho was granted a casino monopoly four decades ago and his company remains dominant even though the monopoly came to an end in 2002, opening the way to a flood of Las Vegas operators who have turned the enclave into the world's biggest gambling market.
Analysts say the tussle over Ho's fortune may have been triggered by a move to pave the way for an orderly succession.
Just a day earlier, Ho, chairman of Macau's biggest casino operator SJM Holdings, had given a television interview saying he would not sue and that he wanted to resolve the matter privately with his family to end the feud.
The latest move in the zig-zagging tussle for the 89-year-old tycoon's billions of dollars of assets suggests an intensification in the scramble between factions of Ho's family, which includes four wives and at least 17 children.
Ho's lawyer, Gordon Oldham, said yesterday he had filed a court claim on Ho's behalf against his children including Pansy and Lawrence Ho, other relatives and companies.
A copy of the court claim filed at Hong Kong's High Court obtained by Reuters stated that Ho was suing his third wife and the five children of his second wife for issuing new shares in Lanceford, the main holding company for Ho's interest in SJM, without his consent, effectively diluting Ho's stake to nothing.
The writ, signed by Ho, sought a reversal of the transaction and a declaration that the "shares were improperly and unlawfully allotted" while seeking an injunction to "restrain each of them" from making further share allotments or disposals.
"Regarding his statement on television, this was not his sentiment. He wants to continue. He is trying to get his wealth back," Oldham told Reuters in a telephone interview.
"He had been pressurised into making that statement."
Oldham said later the family was discussing matters.
For centuries a sleepy Portuguese outpost down the coast from bustling trade hub of Hong Kong, Macau made gambling its business in a region where most betting has long been illegal. It reverted to Chinese rule in 1999, two years after Hong Kong.
Ho was granted a casino monopoly four decades ago and his company remains dominant even though the monopoly came to an end in 2002, opening the way to a flood of Las Vegas operators who have turned the enclave into the world's biggest gambling market.
Analysts say the tussle over Ho's fortune may have been triggered by a move to pave the way for an orderly succession.
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