The Hong Kong Police is investigating the failed bid by tycoon Richard Li Tzar-kai to take city’s telecommunications provider PCCW private, a buyout that was dogged by allegations of vote-rigging in a shareholder ballot needed to approve the deal.
According to the Bloomberg report, which cited unnamed sources, the offices of at least one of Li’s companies were searched on February 10. They also searched the offices of Fortis Insurance (Asia), which was embroiled in the PCCW vote-rigging scandal last year. The report also said the police had search warrants for Li’s residences, without saying whether they were exercised.
Last year, the city’s securities market regulator, the Securities and Futures Commission, blocked a bid by Pacific Century Regional Development (PCRD), which was controlled by Li, to execute a HK$2.1 billion buyout of PCCW – a company on which Li also serves as chairman. This came amid allegations that hundreds of people, including employees at Fortis, were given shares in the telecoms giant in return for voting in favour of the deal. While the practice was technically legal, a Hong Kong court ruled that it undermined the spirit of the law, and amounted to manipulation. The deal was finally blocked.
The report said that no charges have yet been filed, and the investigation is on-going. Li has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
“We will cooperate fully with any investigation and wish to see it resolved as soon as practically possible. We do not believe Richard Li is the target of any investigation or that any senior management of PCRD or PCCW has committed any wrongdoing,” lawyer Martin Rogers, representing Li, told the wire service.
Fortis Asia confirmed it had received inquiries from the police earlier in the month, but declined to say whether they were related to Li or PCCW. PCCW, the SFC, as well as the police did not comment.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment