Wahaha Photo: VCG

The High Court of Hong Kong on Friday ruled that Zong Fuli - daughter of Zong Qinghou and chairwoman of Wahaha Group - is prohibited from withdrawing or transferring the funds from a $1.8 billion HSBC account, as part of a case filed by the heiress's half-siblings, according to thepaper.cn.

The order will remain in force until another parallel lawsuit filed in a Hangzhou court is finished, or until a further order is passed by the Hong Kong court, according to thepaper.cn, citing the ruling by Deputy High Court Judge Gary CC Lam on Friday.

The High Court also granted a disclosure order requiring Zong to provide detailed information about the HSBC account.

The three plaintiffs - extramarital children of Zong Qinghou, the late founder of Wahaha - sued their half-sister Zong Fuli, now the chairwoman and CEO of the group, in December, demanding $1.8 billion in an HSBC account. They also said Zong Fuli, who was publicly known as her father's only child until the lawsuit surfaced, had withdrawn more than $6 million from the account, according to a South China Morning Post report.

The High Court of Hong Kong ruled that the account would remain frozen until further orders, noting there were "serious issues to be tried" in relation to the plaintiffs' claim regarding the breach of a family agreement, in which Zong Fuli had agreed to set up three offshore trusts for the three half-siblings totaling $2.1 billion after the death of their father in February last year, said thepaper.cn report.

However, the ruling rejected a request to disclose the whereabouts of $1,085,120, as Zong Fuli had stated that it was used to pay for fund subscriptions. The ruling also amended the wording of the property preservation order, prohibiting the defendants from "withdrawing or encumbering" the HSBC account assets, rather than "disposing of or dealing with" or "diminishing the value of" the account as originally worded, thepaper.cn reported.

The parties to the lawsuit are: plaintiffs Zong Jichang, Zong Jieli, and Zong Jisheng; and defendants Zong Fuli (chairwoman of Wahaha Group) and Jian Hao Ventures Limited (a British Virgin Islands-registered company, of which Zong Fuli is the sole director). Neither party appeared on the court that day, said thepaper.cn report.

The inheritance battle over the estate of beverage giant Wahaha has captured the attention of the public after Wahaha's founder Zong Qinghou passed away in February last year at the age of 79.

Global Times