February 04 News Italian C amp F website quoted Hong Kong media “Asian Sentinel” in an article saying,
Inter owner Zhang Kangyang is facing an all-out conflict with China Construction Bank over his refusal to pay more than $300 million in debt, in addition to CCB’s attempts to secure Zhang’s contempt conviction in a Hong Kong court.
At present, China Construction Bank is trying to obtain information between Inter Milan and Zhang Kangyang through Western financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs Group and Oak Capital Management. At present, Italy and Hong Kong have launched legal procedures to recover the arrears, and the Hong Kong court has summoned Zhang Kangyang again.
Zhang Kangyang came to testify on March 13.
“Asian Sentinel” wrote in the original text of the article: “Suning Group is famous for acquiring 70% of Inter Milan. This is an Italian club headquartered in Milan and has many fans all over the world.”
“Zhang Kangyang’s social media accounts show his enormous wealth, and he posted photos including at least three luxury sports cars with a total value of more than US$8 million, and luxury watches with a total value of nearly US$15 million.” Camp F added that although
Zhang Kangyang has been flaunting his wealth, but almost none of his property is held in his own name, which makes it impossible for creditors to recover.
Therefore, China Construction Bank has applied to the U.S. court to approve the issuance of subpoenas to a number of financial institutions with offices in New York, including Goldman Sachs, Oaktree Capital Management, and Bain Capital. CCB is studying Zhang Kangyang’s connection with these financial institutions
, and believes that these institutions may have information related to Inter Milan, Zhang Kangyang and Suning Group.
A company owned by Zhang Kangyang borrowed from China Construction Bank in 2020 to refinance its 2019 debt.
The company bought a 65% stake in a company that operates thousands of convenience stores in China for $108.9 million at the time, and the acquisition was refinanced in 2020 with a total loan amount of $165 million plus up to $85 million.
The repayment time of the US dollar debt is scheduled to be before September 10, 2021.
CCB said Zhang Kangyang personally guaranteed the loan but refused to repay the debt.
In November 2021, China Construction Bank filed a lawsuit against Zhang Kangyang in the Hong Kong court. The latter defended in court, saying that Zhang Kangyang himself had no knowledge of the financing agreement, and even more vaguely claimed that an employee might have impersonated him on the agreement document.
Signed and provided a handwriting expert’s appraisal report.
However, the judge pointed out in the judgment that the borrowing company involved in the case was fully controlled by Zhang Kangyang, and he had provided a personal guarantee. It is hard to believe that Zhang Kangyang had no knowledge of the financing agreement.
CCB also said they planned to apply to the Hong Kong court to have Zhang Kangyang convicted in contempt of court for making false statements in the proceedings.
“The basis of the prosecution is that Zhang Kangyang knew that he had made false statements to the Hong Kong court, including claiming that he was not aware of the original refinancing transaction, denying the signing of the creditor agreement and personal guarantee, and even claiming that his signature documents were forged.”
Creditors of CCB concluded: “If the court convicts the defendant of contempt of court, Zhang Kangyang and others may be sentenced to 3 months in prison or fined.”
In addition to Hong Kong and the United States, China Construction Bank has also filed a lawsuit against Zhang Kangyang in Italy in recent months. The creditors specifically demanded that Inter Milan not pay Zhang Kangyang’s annual salary of 914,000 euros during his tenure as club chairman.
(Based on results estimated by the prosecution)
The Milan court will hold the first hearing on March 8, 2023 at 10 am.
Related Reading:
South China Morning Post: Zhang Kangyang was sentenced to lose in Hong Kong and needs to repay creditors 255 million US dollars