Court freezes Hong Kong beverage heiress' bank account over inheritance dispute with extramarital half-siblings
Qinghou is the founder of 'China's Coca-Cola' — the Chinese beverage giant Hangzhou Wahaha Group.
The current CEO Kelly Zong Fuli was thought to be Zong's only child but is now being sued by her extramarital half-siblings Jacky, Jessie, and Jerry Zong.
According to the plaintiffs they had reached an agreement to establish individual offshore trusts for each sibling, with the source being the currently frozen account, which holds US$1.8 billion (RM7.7 billion).
They allege that Kelly violated the agreement by failing to create the trusts after their father's death in February 2024 and had also withdrawn over US$6 million from the account.
According to the High Court there were "serious issues to be tried" and the plaintiffs had presented Kelly's letter saying that she would commit to the trusts as well as two handwritten wills.
Hangzhou Wahaha Group has distanced itself from the legal disputes, stating that the lawsuits (in Hangzhou and Hong Kong) do not involve the company's operations.
While the Zong family has a 29.4 per cent stake in the company, the largest ownership portion belongs to the Hangzhou government investment arm (46 per cent) and employees via a stockholding party own 24.6 per cent.
Zong Qinghou was formerly lauded for his image as an upholder of traditional family values but his legacy has now come under scrutiny due to the lawsuit and public knowledge of his fathering children outside his marriage.
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