Polys Haji-Ioannou has won the latest round of legal action against Nobu Su and his mother Toshiko Morimoto, but failed to persuade the judge that the freeze on her assets should be continued.
At a hearing in London on Thursday, Justice Michael Burton granted the claimants leave to take further legal action against Morimoto and the two co-defendants, shell companies Cresta Overseas Ltd and Portview Holdings Ltd.
It means Haji-Ioannou and his company Lakatamia Shipping are now able to sue Morimoto — who is based in Taipei — for damages in England and Wales.
July 2008
Polys Haji-Ioannou agrees to buy Nobu Su’s position in the forward freight market via his company Lakatamia Shipping. Su agrees to repurchase the position after one month.
October 2008-October 2009
Su repays some but not all of his outstanding liability against Lakatamia, refusing to pay the balance of $37.9m.
March 2011
Lakatamia issues a claim for breach of contract in London against Su and the TMT Group.
August 2011
A court-ordered freezing injunction is effected on Su’s assets worldwide.
November 2014
A judge finds in favour of Haji-Ioannou and Lakatamia, awarding them $37.9m.
January 2015
A further judgment orders Su to pay an additional $9.9m in interest.
November 2015
Two villas owned by Su are sold in Monaco.
February 2016
Su is ordered to pay the claimants’ legal costs of £1.1m, bringing the total judgment debt to $57m.
February 2017
The net proceeds from the villas’ sale is transferred to lawyers of Cresta Overseas, of which Su was beneficial owner via his company Portview Holdings.
March 2017
Sale proceeds transferred from Cresta to the Taipei bank account of Up Shipping.
February 2019
Freezing order effected against Su's mother, Toshiko Morimoto, Cresta and Portview.
March 2019
Su is jailed for 21 months for contempt of court.
September 2019
London's Court of Appeal refuses to grant Su permission to challenge his prison sentence. Su offers to purge one count of contempt with partial repayment of the court award.
February 2020
On 11 February, Su is found guilty of two further counts of contempt and receives an extra four months in prison. He had been due for release on 12 February.
April 2020
Su released from prison on 9 April.
July 2020
Su files for bankruptcy in London.
July 2021
Su's bankruptcy is annulled by a London court. A week later, a judge sends him back to prison.
Photo: John Allan/Creative Commons
The claimants allege that Morimoto conspired with Su to frustrate the worldwide freezing injunction on his assets and avoid repayment of the judgment debt against him, which today stands at $57m.
Haji-Ioannou pulled Su's mother into the long-running legal dispute last month, just weeks after the former shipowner was jailed for contempt of court.
He remains in London's Pentonville prison.
Reasoned judgment
On Thursday, London's High Court determined that Morimoto is a proper and necessary party with respect to the alleged conspiracy.
The judge was also satisfied that England and Wales was the proper jurisdiction that should apply, given that the aim of the conspiracy was to breach and evade English court orders, he said.
Morimoto already has legal representation in England, the judge reasoned, and Su will be within the jurisdiction for up to another 20 months, having been jailed on 29 March.
There has been no evidence that Morimoto is at risk of dissipating her assets, the court found, and therefore there is no sufficient basis on which to continue the freezing order.
Court proceedings in London have been “fruitful” in determining the whereabouts of the proceeds from the sale of two villas in Monaco, the judge said, “but this is not a proprietary injunction”.
Court costs are to be apportioned on a 75:25 basis in the claimants’ favour, which leaves a net sum of £56,250 to be paid by the defendants.
New York success
Haji-Ioannou has also been successful in New York during the past week and can now pursue collection of Su's judgment debt in the US.
The New York County Supreme Court on 29 April filed an order to recognise judgments by the High Court of England and Wales in favour of Haji-Ioannou and Lakatamia.
The court’s decision effectively converts the English judgments into New York judgments, which means collection of the debt can be pursued under US law.
Disputed proceeds
In the London court last month, the claimants alleged that Morimoto funded Su’s lifestyle with cash obtained from selling two villas in Monaco, of which Su was the ultimate beneficial owner via his companies Cresta and Portview.
A bank statement recovered in March shows the €27m net proceeds from the sale were received into a Taipei-based Citibank account belonging to Up Shipping, which the claimants allege was controlled by Morimoto.
Morimoto, however, claims that the bank account was controlled by her son.
The bank statement appears to show that payments from the account were made to fund Su’s lifestyle, such as his $37,000 golf club membership and production of his documentary movie, The Outsider.
Haji-Ioannou was represented in the London court on Thursday by Noel Casey QC from 7KBW, instructed by law firm Hill Dickinson.
Morimoto was represented by David Head QC of 3VM, instructed by lawyers Bell McKenzie.
Cresta and Portview were not represented in court.
