Posted Friday, 3 June
2005 / 20:45 p.m. JST
I'd been looking for any English publication of this news without
success (though there's plenty of reporting around in Chinese)
— Thanks to Wendy for this article she posted at the JCMB.
Source: SCMP -- subscription required
Date: March 17, 2005
Singer fights debt claim
POLLY HUI
Singer-songwriter Emil Chau Wa-kin appeared in court yesterday
over accusations that he owed a construction company more than
$10 million.
But the case was adjourned in the Court of First Instance after
the plaintiff's counsel argued that a loan document submitted
as evidence was forged.
Jiangsu Golden Civil Building Group claimed in a writ filed three
years ago that a construction company named W. Ho owed it a total
of $13 million in loans and interest. The two companies had worked
together on government projects to repair slopes.
W. Ho was owned by Chau's elder brother, Chau Ho-kin, who has
reportedly gone bankrupt. Ho-kin also disappeared more than two
years ago. The singer was allegedly the company's guarantor.
John Scott SC, for Jiangsu Golden Civil Building, told Deputy
High Court Judge Gerard Muttrie yesterday that he had found a
forged document in the defendant's evidence. The amount of debt
stated in the document is allegedly different from what the creditors
are claiming.
Chau had previously said he had drawn a line between himself
and his older brother and that he would not shoulder his debts.
