Lovers’ feud disclosed in casino legal battle

A Hong Kong court glimpsed the private letters exchanged between billionaire Eric Hotung and businesswoman Winnie Ho Yuen during a legal battle over shares in a local casino operation.
The letters, which were sighted on Monday, centered on the HKD2 million that Hotung had allegedly handed to Ho, his secret lover, on trust decades ago.
South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that the philanthropist claimed much of the money was spent on property overseas, including houses in Portugal, London and Los Angeles.
While Ho appealed that the sum was not given to her on trust and that she had paid back about HKD1.6 million, the High Court heard that Ho was supposed to invest the money in her brother Stanley Ho ’s
Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau (STDM) and Shun Tak Shipping Company, shortly after he was granted a gaming license in 1961.
Hotung said he aimed to divide the earnings from the investment equally among his heirs, and demanded that the money be returned along with Ho’s profits.
SCMP stated that Ho refused to accept flowers that Hotung sent her due to remarks he noted to the press, details of which were not revealed in court.
“Your defamatory remarks have caused me a great deal of pain and I now realize that you have never loved me,” she wrote.
Ho added that she had always been a shareholder in STDM in her own right, and asked the billionaire to stay away from Moon Valley.
According to Hotung’s counsel, Hylas Chung, the first letter revealed the philanthropist’s intention to invest in STDM when he first gave the money to Ho, who then used it to set up Moon Valley Inc.
The billionaire is now asking the court to declare that Ho held his property on trust and to order her to return the money, along with any profits derived from both the original HKD2 million and the STDM shares.