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Fraud, threats and Ferrari fights in China embezzlement suit

Bloomberg Published on Fri, May 05, 2017 / 8:01 AM GMT+8

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LONDON (May 5): Some of the rarest cars in the world are at the heart of a London lawsuit embroiling an associate of one of China’s wealthiest men.

Zhao Hua Chen, who works with Chinese aluminum billionaire Zhongtian Liu, has accused Eric Po Chi Shen of buying real estate, rare red diamonds and super cars with money he embezzled while acting as his financial adviser, according to court documents filed in London’s High Court.

At stake in the case is ownership of two classic cars that could be worth as much as US$87 million. Chen says his former business associate falsified his financial reports and lied about how much he spent on property deals, before using the spoils to buy a 1998 McLaren F1 and a 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO Berlinetta. He is asking a judge in the British capital to order the cars to be sold or handed over to him.