Nobu Su’s mother has been dragged into a high-profile legal battle involving the former TMT chief executive — who has been jailed in the UK for contempt of court — and Cypriot shipowner Polys Haji-Ioannou.
Toshiko Morimoto, 85, could face trial if a court in London finds she has helped Su circumvent a worldwide freeze on his assets and a judgment debt against him.
It provides the latest twist in a long-running dispute after Su was hit by a contempt of court charge in late March and is now facing almost two years in prison.
He is currently behind bars in London’s Pentonville Prison, having been jailed for 21 months for contempt of court following a hearing on March 29.
In a hearing this week, Morimoto faced accusations of helping Su circumvent the asset freeze and avoid paying the judgment sum.
The move signals that claimants Haji-Ioannou and his company Lakatamia Shipping are widening their net in their efforts to recover a court award made in 2014, which now totals around $57m.
Golf club membership, a documentary and the missing €27m
New documents have come to light in the past week, following evidence given by Su, that the claimants say show that his mother funded his lifestyle with cash obtained from the sale of his assets.
That included payment for items such as his $37,000 golf club membership and production of his documentary movie, The Outsider.
Haji-Ioannou and Lakatamia allege that Su, his mother and others together acted in a conspiracy to frustrate the freezing injunction, which has been in force since 2011, and payment of the judgment sum.
The claimants say a recently unearthed bank statement shows a Taipei-based Citibank account received €27m from the sale of two villas in Monaco owned by Su.
The Taipei bank account was controlled by Morimoto, who disbursed the money to fund her son’s lifestyle, the claimants allege.
Following the villas’ sale, the net proceeds were paid to lawyers of Cresta Overseas Ltd, of which Su was the ultimate beneficial owner through another entity, Portview Holdings Ltd.
The proceeds were previously thought to have disappeared after being paid to Cresta.
The claimants have this week filed an application through their lawyers Hill Dickinson to continue a freezing injunction they have obtained against Morimoto herself and move towards a trial.
Cresta and Portview were also been named in the application as defendants, alongside Su and Morimoto, but were unrepresented in court on Wednesday.
The outcome of the application is awaited.
