23-06-2025
Dublin jeweller was being pursued over €1.5m debts when she filed for bankruptcy
Shuwan Li had just €21.88 in her bank account and €100 in cash when she sought to have her debts wiped out
A woman who ran a jewellery shop just off Grafton Street was being pursued for debts of €1.5m when she went bankrupt in March.
Court filings show Shuwan Li had just €100 in cash and €21.88 in her bank account when she sought to have her debts wiped out. Her only personal assets were a €3,000 engagement ring a €900 wedding ring.
Ms Li, who is also known as Shuwan Li Mooney, owned and ran Empress Fine Jewels which was located on Johnson's Court, near more established jewellers in the area.
Shuwan Li Mooney ran a jewellery shop in Dublin city centre
The Sunday World reported last week that a Dublin woman obtained a judgment of almost €35,000 against Empress Fine Jewels and Ms Li earlier this year after four rings she left in for cleaning were reportedly stolen.
The woman was told by the jeweller that the rings were stolen from a pensioner travelling on Dublin Bus who was bringing them to be cleaned in another location. The rings included the woman's wedding and engagement rings and two other pieces with rare stones.
This woman, who was represented by solicitor David Harrington of Harringtons LLP, was listed as a creditor in Ms Li's bankruptcy filings as being owed just over €34,000.
A Dublin woman obtained a judgment against Ms Li after rings were reportedly stolen. Stock image: Getty
In her bankruptcy filings, Ms Li listed the Revenue Commissioner as her biggest creditor with an 'outstanding tax bill' of €969,000.
The shop was shuttered when the Sunday World went to the premises recently, and the name above the door had changed.
Ms Li (42) last provided an address in Rathgar in Dublin 14, based on company records.
World Diamond Group (WDG), an Italian company which took a High Court action against Empress Fine Jewels and Ms Li, was listed as being owed €119,928.
Among the claims made in that case was that Ms Li made an alleged threat to 'put people in the river' amid fallout between the diamond sellers. Castrenze Giuliano, chief executive of WDG, outlined in an affidavit how his business relationship with Ms Li had 'irretrievably broken down'.
He also alleged she had sent 'semi-intimate' pictures of him to high-ranking employees of WDG and threatened 'to make false allegations about a personal relationship' between them.
Ms Li stated in her affidavit that Mr Giuliano ended their romantic relationship 'suddenly' because he had begun a new relationship.
Empress Fine Jewels on Johnson's Court, off Grafton Street in Dublin
She claimed the breakdown of a romantic relationship was what caused Mr Giuliano to initiate the High Court case.
Lawyers for WDG said it was accepted that Mr Giuliano had an intimate relationship with Ms Li, but claimed it was not of the nature depicted by her.
In her bankruptcy filing, Ms Li accepted she owed the Italian firm just over €119,000.
Orsini Gioielli, another Italian jewellery company, is listed as being owed €10,333. Ernest Weisz, a jewellery trader in Manchester, was owed €20,000. Two money lenders, both with addresses in Dublin 8, are listed as being owed €50,000 each. RE Morrish, a Birmingham-based jewellery provider, was owed €24,000.
Jonathan Lynne, a vintage jewellery supplier based in England, was listed as being owed €26,000. However, last month this company obtained a High Court judgment of €108,782 against Ms Li and her company over unpaid bills, records obtained by the Sunday World show.
Court records show Jonathan Collins, a director in the English jewellery company which specialises in 'classic and vintage-style jewellery', said the debt had been owed since 2022. He said Ms Li had sent two cheques that 'bounced'.
He said Ms Li and her company acted wrongfully and in breach of contract
Mr Collins said Ms Li opened a credit account with his firm in October 2016. He said that in May 2017, Jonathan Lynne Ltd began to sell and deliver jewellery to Ms Li.
He said Ms Li began to fall into arrears in April 2019 and that by March 2022 arrears were €108,782. The two bounced cheques Lee sent in late 2019 and early 2020 were for €6,344 and €11,344. He said Ms Li and her company acted wrongfully and in breach of contract by failing or neglecting to pay the invoices issued to her.
Judgment in favour of Jonathan Lynne Ltd was granted against Ms Li and her Empress Fine Jewels on May 27. Company filings show that although Empress Fine Jewels was incorporated in 2019, it never filed annual returns or accounts over the following six years, as is required under company law.
Shuwan Li
News in 90 Seconds - Monday June 23
In the bankruptcy filings, AIB is listed as being owed €15,000 from Ms Li's overdraft facility.
The Dublin city sheriff is listed as being owed €15,000 over Ms Li's Revenue bill and the sheriff's costs. Dublin City Council was owed just under €10,000 from unpaid commercial rates.
The total unsecured debt listed by Ms Li was €1.487m. She also listed BMW Finance as being owed €10,000 secured debt based on a hire purchase agreement for her car.
Ms Li listed her business's tenancy leases in Johnson's Court as being valued at €210,000.
She recorded herself as unemployed and her income as 'nil'.
The 'set costs' of her living expenses were €1,580 a month. Her declaration of bankruptcy was signed and verified using her Chinese passport on January 20.
