Gordon Oldham, the lawyer who originally brought to light the alleged heist of aging Macau casino magnate Stanley Ho’s fortune by his family members, today filed a writ to recover Ho’s allegedly stolen assets. Oldham’s High Court claim accuses Ho’s second wife Lucina, third wife Ina, five of Lucina’s children (including Pansy Ho, who has her own casino holdings in Macau) and a banker of illegally procuring shares in Lanceford Co., the family vehicle in which most of Ho’s US $1.7b fortune resides. Shares in Ho’s SJM Holdings, which controls 20 of Macau’s 33 casinos, fell over 5.5% on Wednesday.
The writ was filed despite Stanley having stated in a televised appearance the day before that he had no desire to wage a legal fight with his family members, and also that he had dismissed Oldham. Oldham claims not to have received notice of this dismissal, and told a Reuters reporter that “Regarding his statement on television, this was not his sentiment. He wants to continue. He is trying to get his wealth back.”
Whether or not Stanley actually feels this way, Oldham appears to have the support of the children of Ho’s first wife, Clementina, who seem to have been left high and dry in the asset transfer. Ho’s fourth wife, Angela Leong, who received an 8% stake of Stanley’s empire earlier this month, might also be interested in contesting the asset transfer, possibly as a ‘fuck you’ to Pansy. However, Leong told a local radio station that Stanley was in good health and clear-minded, so that would mean what he stated in that TV appearance was true, and ergo, there’s nothing to challenge, so…
Seriously, WTF?
