1st February 2023 – (Hong Kong) Deng Jun-jie, the former co-chairman of Asia Television Holdings Limited who resigned in September 2021 was sued in the Court of First Instance of the High Court by a financial company yesterday to recover an arrears of approximately HK$24.87 million and interest of more than HK$8.8 million. The company pointed out that it had lent HK$35 million to the company where Deng was the sole director and shareholder since 2015, but the other party only repaid part of the amount in the end and still owed HK$24.87 million. Deng was the guarantor of the loan, and the plaintiff sued Deng for the principal sum together with interests. The plaintiff is Aurum Pacific Finance Limited and the defendant is Deng Jun-jie. According to the filing, the plaintiff reached a loan agreement with Honghu Capital Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Honghu), of which Deng was the sole director and shareholder, on 22nd October, 2015, and Deng served as the guarantor of the loan.
According to the agreement, the plaintiff lent HK$35 million to Honghu and must repay the amount within 12 months, and Honghu must also pay interests. Honghu subsequently asked the plaintiff for an extension of repayment four times, and the final repayment deadline was 19th January, 2021. According to the case, Honghu only repaid the principal of about 10.13 million Hong Kong dollars in the end, and still owed about 24.87 million Hong Kong dollars. Since Deng was the guarantor of the loan, the plaintiff filed a lawsuit against Deng to recover the balance and asked Deng to pay interest. As of 31st January this year, the accrued interest was over HK$8.8 million.
In June 2021, Deng engaged in an altercation with some people at the entrance of Asia Television’s Tai Po headquarters. It is known that a man pulled up a banner at the scene to demand repayment. The police arrested Deng for criminal damage and common assault.