AKAI HOLDINGS LTD AND OTHERS v. HO WING ON, CHRISTOPHER AND OTHERS
Court held plaintiffs have a good arguable case and established a real risk of dissipation primarily on evidence of recent asset disposals (notably the Lafe in specie distribution) and other transactions; granted a worldwide Mareva injunction against the 1st defendant, Mr Christopher Ho, limited to US$200,000,000 and ancillary disclosure; refused direct Mareva relief against the 2nd defendant, Grande Holdings Ltd, but restrained Mr Ho from using his beneficial interest to procure extraordinary dispositions of Grande assets outside the ordinary course without board approval and required 14 days\' notice to liquidators; ordered disclosure of assets over US$50,000 by Mr Ho and Grande;...
- Citation
- AKAI HOLDINGS LTD AND OTHERS v. HO WING ON, CHRISTOPHER AND OTHERS
- Parties
- 1st Plaintiff (in Compulsory Liquidation): AKAI HOLDINGS LIMITED; 2nd Plaintiff (in Compulsory Liquidation): KONG WAH HOLDINGS LIMITED; 3rd Plaintiff (in Liquidation): CANICULA B.V.; 4th Plaintiff (in Creditors Voluntary Liquidation): COLIYIELD COMPANY LIMITED; 5th Plaintiff: DONG YANG ENTERPRISES (HK) LIMITED; 6th Plaintiff (in Liquidation): EVELAND INVESTMENTS N.V.; 7th Plaintiff: EXCELLENT NOMINEES LIMITED; 8th Plaintiff (in Creditors Voluntary Liquidation): FERENDO LIMITED; 9th Plaintiff: HIGH REGARD LIMITED; 10th Plaintiff: HIGH SPIRIT LIMITED; 11th Plaintiff (in Creditors Voluntary Liquidation): KONG WAH ESTATE LIMITED; 12th Plaintiff: KONG WAN INDUSTRIAL (CHINA) INVESTMENT COMPANY LIMITED; 13th Plaintiff (in Creditors Voluntary Liquidation): KONG WAH INDUSTRIAL (ZHONGSHAN) INVESTMENT COMPANY LIMITED; 14th Plaintiff: SCENIC CITY LIMITED; 15th Plaintiff: SERLEN LIMITED; 16th Plaintiff (in Liquidation): TURDIGA B.V.; 17th Plaintiff: WALLPINE LIMITED; 1st Defendant: HO WING ON, CHRISTOPHER; 2nd Defendant: THE GRANDE HOLDINGS LIMITED; 3rd Defendant: OMNICORP LIMITED (formerly Omnitech Group Ltd / O2New Technology Ltd / Toyo Holdings Ltd / Tomei International (Holdings) Ltd); 4th Defendant: SANSUI ACOUSTICS RESEARCH CORPORATION (formerly Almaden Agents Limited); 5th Defendant: THE ALPHA CAPITAL GROUP LIMITED; 6th Defendant: THE GRANDE (NOMINEES) LIMITED; 7th Defendant: THE GRANDE GROUP LIMITED; 8th Defendant: TREMENDOUS SPRINGS LIMITED; 9th Defendant: TWD ASIA LIMITED (formerly Tohei Precision Manufacturing Company Limited); 10th Defendant: ZHONGSHAN KAWA ELECTRONIC RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTRE; 11th Defendant: ZHONGSHAN KAWA ELECTRONIC (GROUP) COMPANY LIMITED; 12th Defendant: ZHONGSHAN KAWA PACKING MATERIAL LIMITED; 13th Defendant: ZHONGSHAN KAWA PLASTIC LIMITED; 14th Defendant: ZHONGSHAN KAWA SPEAKER CASE LIMITED; 15th Defendant: GRANDE NAKS LIMITED; 16th Defendant: TOMEI KAWA ELECTRONICS INTERNATIONAL LIMITED; 17th Defendant: ALWAYS WIN COMPANY LIMITED; 18th Defendant: YUEN KIN, SAMUEL; 19th Defendant: LEE YEN KEE, RUBY; 20th Defendant: PHENOMENON AGENTS LIMITED
- Court
- Court of First Instance
- Jurisdiction
- Hong Kong
- Judgment Date
- 9 February 2009
- Case Number
- HCCL40/2005
- Procedural Posture
- Commercial Action (consolidated Liquidators\' Claims Arising From Akai Group Insolvency) / Interlocutory Application for Mareva Injunction and Ancillary Disclosure (judgment on Application)
- Outcome
- Worldwide Mareva injunction granted against 1st defendant Mr Christopher Ho limited to US$200,000,000; Mareva relief refused against 2nd defendant Grande Holdings Ltd but restrictions imposed on Mr Ho\'s use of his beneficial interest in Grande; disclosure orders made against Mr Ho and Grande; interim relief continued.
- Legal Topics
- Mareva Injunction, Worldwide Freezing Orders, Fiduciary Duties, Knowing Receipt, Dishonest Assistance, Disclosure Orders, Third Party Litigation Funding, Reflective Loss
- Source Language
- EN
Case Brief
Summary, issues, holding and outcome
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Parties
AKAI HOLDINGS LIMITED
1st Plaintiff (in Compulsory Liquidation)
KONG WAH HOLDINGS LIMITED
2nd Plaintiff (in Compulsory Liquidation)
CANICULA B.V.
3rd Plaintiff (in Liquidation)
COLIYIELD COMPANY LIMITED
4th Plaintiff (in Creditors Voluntary Liquidation)
DONG YANG ENTERPRISES (HK) LIMITED
5th Plaintiff
EVELAND INVESTMENTS N.V.
6th Plaintiff (in Liquidation)
EXCELLENT NOMINEES LIMITED
7th Plaintiff
FERENDO LIMITED
8th Plaintiff (in Creditors Voluntary Liquidation)
HIGH REGARD LIMITED
9th Plaintiff
HIGH SPIRIT LIMITED
10th Plaintiff
KONG WAH ESTATE LIMITED
11th Plaintiff (in Creditors Voluntary Liquidation)
KONG WAN INDUSTRIAL (CHINA) INVESTMENT COMPANY LIMITED
12th Plaintiff
KONG WAH INDUSTRIAL (ZHONGSHAN) INVESTMENT COMPANY LIMITED
13th Plaintiff (in Creditors Voluntary Liquidation)
SCENIC CITY LIMITED
14th Plaintiff
SERLEN LIMITED
15th Plaintiff
TURDIGA B.V.
16th Plaintiff (in Liquidation)
WALLPINE LIMITED
17th Plaintiff
HO WING ON, CHRISTOPHER
1st Defendant
THE GRANDE HOLDINGS LIMITED
2nd Defendant
OMNICORP LIMITED (formerly Omnitech Group Ltd / O2New Technology Ltd / Toyo Holdings Ltd / Tomei International (Holdings) Ltd)
3rd Defendant
SANSUI ACOUSTICS RESEARCH CORPORATION (formerly Almaden Agents Limited)
4th Defendant
THE ALPHA CAPITAL GROUP LIMITED
5th Defendant
THE GRANDE (NOMINEES) LIMITED
6th Defendant
THE GRANDE GROUP LIMITED
7th Defendant
TREMENDOUS SPRINGS LIMITED
8th Defendant
TWD ASIA LIMITED (formerly Tohei Precision Manufacturing Company Limited)
9th Defendant
ZHONGSHAN KAWA ELECTRONIC RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTRE
10th Defendant
ZHONGSHAN KAWA ELECTRONIC (GROUP) COMPANY LIMITED
11th Defendant
ZHONGSHAN KAWA PACKING MATERIAL LIMITED
12th Defendant
ZHONGSHAN KAWA PLASTIC LIMITED
13th Defendant
ZHONGSHAN KAWA SPEAKER CASE LIMITED
14th Defendant
GRANDE NAKS LIMITED
15th Defendant
TOMEI KAWA ELECTRONICS INTERNATIONAL LIMITED
16th Defendant
ALWAYS WIN COMPANY LIMITED
17th Defendant
YUEN KIN, SAMUEL
18th Defendant
LEE YEN KEE, RUBY
19th Defendant
PHENOMENON AGENTS LIMITED
20th Defendant
Procedural Posture
Commercial Action (consolidated Liquidators\' Claims Arising From Akai Group Insolvency) / Interlocutory Application for Mareva Injunction and Ancillary Disclosure (judgment on Application)
Legal Issues
- 1 Whether plaintiffs have a good arguable case
- 2 Whether defendants have insufficient assets in jurisdiction
- 3 Whether there is a real risk of dissipation of assets
Ratio Decidendi
Court held plaintiffs have a good arguable case and established a real risk of dissipation primarily on evidence of recent asset disposals (notably the Lafe in specie distribution) and other transactions; granted a worldwide Mareva injunction against the 1st defendant, Mr Christopher Ho, limited to US$200,000,000 and ancillary disclosure; refused direct Mareva relief against the 2nd defendant, Grande Holdings Ltd, but restrained Mr Ho from using his beneficial interest to procure extraordinary dispositions of Grande assets outside the ordinary course without board approval and required 14 days\' notice to liquidators; ordered disclosure of assets over US$50,000 by Mr Ho and Grande;...
Court Disposition
Worldwide Mareva injunction granted against 1st defendant Mr Christopher Ho limited to US$200,000,000; Mareva relief refused against 2nd defendant Grande Holdings Ltd but restrictions imposed on Mr Ho\'s use of his beneficial interest in Grande; disclosure orders made against Mr Ho and Grande; interim relief continued.
Orders
- Worldwide freezing injunction against 1st defendant Mr Christopher Ho restraining disposal or dealing with his assets up to US$200,000,000
- Injunction preventing Mr Ho from using his beneficial shareholder equity in The Grande Holdings Ltd to cause dispositions of Grande assets other than in the ordinary course of business unless approved by a duly convened Board meeting; Mr Ho to give Akai liquidators 14 days advance notice of any such Resolution
Full Case Text
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