HK ‘King of Shell Companies’ named in conspiracy lawsuit

By Mata Press Service

Hong Kong’s maverick deal maker, Charles Chan, dubbed the ‘King of Shell Companies’, has been named as a defendant in a $245 million civil conspiracy lawsuit involving some of Vancouver’s biggest real estate conglomerates.

The lawsuit also references a $40 million “surreptitious” transaction involving the Asian property titans, as the city is agog with a money-laundering inquiry looking at suspicions cash flow-throughs via Vancouver’s red hot property market.

The allegations in the lawsuit have not been proven in court neither is there any mention of money laundering in the documents filed last week.

Chan is named alongside prominent Vancouver property czar, Terry Hui, the CEO and president of Concord Pacific Group Inc. as having allegedly “conspired” to “harm” the efforts of Singapore-based magnate, Oei Hong Leong, who owns the Plaza of Nations land.

This 4.16 hectare (10.28 acre) site is one of the most valuable remaining pieces of waterfront property in downtown Vancouver valued at over $800 million.

Oei had purchased the land from Li Ka Shing, Hong Kong’s richest man in 1989, and plans to build a new waterfront neighbourhood with a marina and a community ice rink.

Oei alleges in the lawsuit filed in B.C’s Supreme Court that Chan aka Charles Chan Kwok-Keung and Concord’s Hui perpetuated an elaborate scheme to stop him from dealing with other development companies like the Aquilini Group, which owns the Canucks hockey team.

He claims that Chan put up a $40 million “good faith deposit” which was held in trust by Concord’s lawyers, to enable Hui to continue negotiations with Oei, and prevent the latter from talking to other potential partners.

But the money without notice to Oei or his lawyers was “surreptitiously transferred” out from the Stikeman Elliot’s lawyers trust account within two days, the lawsuit alleges. This was done “without informing Oei so that he would not be dissuaded from terminating negotiations” with Concord.

Neither Charles Chan or Terry Hui responded to enquiries via their companies for comments on the lawsuit.

William Dick, the lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the alleged wrongful conduct by the defendants led to his clients losing out on an opportunity to enter into a deal for $800 million involving a third party.

As a result of this, ongoing litigation risks prompted by the defendants and adverse market conditions, the plaintiffs were forced to sell a 22.5% interest in the Plaza of Nations land at a reduced market valuation of $555.55 million.

“As a result, the plaintiffs suffered economic damages in excess of $245 million, with further damages to be assessed,” the lawsuit claims.

The action is a claim for the tort of conspiracy in which two or more persons set out to economically injure another person or entity, Dick said.

Chan, has been in the news recently after he suddenly resigned as chairman of Television Broadcasts’ (TVB) board of directors, Hong Kong’s biggest free-to-air broadcaster after the media group laid off 350 employees following a reported net loss of US$25.3 million for the full year of 2018.

According to Forbes, Chan is a maverick entrepreneur and dealmaker who's known as the "shell king" for facilitating backdoor listings of companies on the Hong Kong exchange.

The lawsuit filed last week is the latest salvo in a long-running court battle over the Plaza of Nations land, whose project called Expo Gardens, sits adjacent to Concord’s properties on Vancouver’s False Creek waterfront.

Concord’s Hui had originally sued the Singapore-based Oei for allegedly acting in bad faith and breaching an agreement to sell his Plaza of Nations land to them.

After a lengthy court battle, Justice Peter Voith of the Supreme Court of British Columbia dismissed the claim in its entirety describing the evidence and conduct of Concord Pacific’s senior officials as ““problematic”, “unreliable” and “dishonest”.

In a scathing judgement last July, Justice Voith concluded Concord had negotiated with Oei and his company in bad faith

Concord Pacific, has indicated that it would appeal to Justice Voith’s decision.

Oei declined to comment on the latest filing or the earlier court ruling.

In an earlier interview with Mata Press Service, a Vancouver-based Asian wire service, Oei said he fell in love with Vancouver when he arrived in the city as it was basking in the glory of its post-Expo-86 era.

“I wanted to build something iconic in Vancouver for Vancouver… my philosophy is local input, local needs and local buyers first.”

Oei’s vision for this new waterfront neighbourhood of terraced buildings of up to 30 storeys includes a community centre, an ice rink for Vancouverites and the Canucks to practice, a child care facility and a gradual amphitheatre for cultural and performing art events,

It will also have 380 units of social housing, a seawall and extensive public spaces suitable for events and festivals, retail stores, restaurants, cafes and breweries with a pedestrian bridge linking the area to the neighbouring Rogers Arena and BC Place Stadium.

The Expo Gardens project, unaffected by the lawsuits, is in the final stages of permitting at Vancouver City Hall.

Who’s who in the battle of the Asian titans in Vancouver

Li Ka Shing

Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, a regular on Forbes list of the world’s wealthiest, bought the Vancouver Expo’ 86 lands in 1988 for $320 million. The controversial sale of the 82-hectare site on the north shore of False Creek made up one-sixth of downtown Vancouver.  The following year Li sold a portion of the property - 4.16 hectares - known as the Plaza of Nations land, to Singapore magnate Oei Hong Leong for C$40 million. Li later sold his Concord Pacific, which had originally set out to develop condominium towers on the Expo Lands, to Terry Hui.

Oei Hong Leong

Singapore based magnate Oei Hong Leong, who is world-renowned for his corporate bond portfolio and real estate assets, now owns the Plaza of Nations land, which sits adjacent to the Concord Pacific properties. He plans to build a new waterfront neighbourhood of terraced buildings, a community centre, an ice rink for Vancouverites and a gradual amphitheatre for cultural and performing art events. The project, dubbed Expo Gardens, has local community support and is in the final stages of City Hall permitting.

Terry Hui

Terry Hui, one of Vancouver’s best-known developers, leveraged his family's wealth from taxi operations in Hong Kong to lead the Concord Group of Companies. Concord is known for building Canada’s largest urban communities. Over the past 25 years, the Concord Group of companies has diversified into other industry sectors including software and information technology, telecommunications, EV power infrastructure and projects of scale in solar, wind and hydroelectric power generation. Most recently, Concord acquired the Westin Bayshore hotel in Vancouver and the Sundial Hotel in Whistler.

Charles Chan

Until last month, Charles Chan Kwok-keung, was the chairman of Television Broadcasts’ (TVB) board of directors, Hong Kong’s biggest free-to-air broadcaster. He resigned shortly after the broadcaster laid off 350 employees, or 10 percent of its workforce and after  TVB reported a net loss of US$25.3 million for the full year of 2018. According to Forbes, Chan is a maverick entrepreneur and dealmaker who's known as the "shell king" for facilitating backdoor listings of companies on the Hong Kong exchange. Chan also chairs ITC Corp., his flagship company, which holds interests in finance, property, infrastructure, hospitality and technology businesses.