Inter President Steven Zhang has been ordered by a Hong Kong court to pay $255 million USD (equivalent to $2 billion HK or €250 million) to creditors over his involvement in a business project.
This according to Chinese news outlet South China Morning Post, who report that the Nerazzurri President’s arguments that he is not liable for the bond bearing his name were rejected by the Hong Kong High Court.
Zhang was involved in the financing of a business project with the China Construction Bank (Asia) Corporation Limited in 2020, in which the Nerazzurri President guaranteed the refinancing of a $255 million USD bond.
The Inter President’s defense in the case was that his signatures on the relevant documents were forged and that he was not aware of any agreement, but this was rejected by High Court judge Anthony Chan.
Chan’s ruling stated that there was little doubt that Zhang had participated in the refinancing and that he gave his personal guarantees, and so he would be liable for the amount claimed by the creditors plus interest and penalties.
Moreover, the creditors represented by China Construction Bank also filed a civil suit in Milan asking a local court to invalidate a salary waiver for Zhang in his role as Inter President so that they could potentially collect some of their assets owed.
Suning have responded by calling for calm regarding the situation.
