Hong Kong court freezes US$1.8 billion HSBC account linked to Wahaha heiress Kelly Zong
[HONG KONG] A Hong Kong court granted an order preventing Hangzhou Wahaha Group chairwoman Kelly Zong from withdrawing any of the US$1.8 billion held in an HSBC Holdings account, as part of a case filed by the heiress’s half-siblings.
The High Court also granted a disclosure order requiring Zong to provide detailed information about the HSBC account, according to the High Court judgement handed down on Friday (Aug 1).
The 43-year-old head of the beverage company was sued by three plaintiffs identified as her half brothers and half sister. Jacky, Jessie and Jerry Zong are seeking more than US$2 billion in trust assets that they said their late father promised them before he died in February last year.
The dispute among the half siblings could set a legal precedent for wealth succession in China and cast a shadow over the reputation of one of the country’s most iconic beverage empires. The case has drawn attention and lit up social media in China since Bloomberg first reported on the proceedings in July.
The three plaintiffs claim the beverage company’s founder Zong Qinghou gave “hand-written instructions” to one of his subordinates in January 2024 to set up three trusts each worth US$700 million, their lawyer said in court on July 11. Kelly’s lawyer said the notes weren’t directed to her, and she did not know where the funds for a US$300 million shortfall should come from.
The Court has asked Kelly to provide detailed information about the HSBC account, including its latest balance, asset transfers or disposals since two February 2024, and a full account of asset movements.
The Hong Kong case is to help proceedings in a Hangzhou court, which will decide the plaintiffs’ rights to the trust assets and the funding source of the shortfall among other matters, according to lawyers from both sides.
The Hangzhou Intermediate People’s Court has organised two mediation sessions but Kelly did not attend either of them, the plaintiffs’ lawyer said at the July hearing. BLOOMBERG
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