London casino takes multi-millionaire to court over $13.7M debt

London casino Les Ambassadeurs Club in Park Lane, Mayfair is taking Yu Songbo, a multi-millionaire property developer, to court after he cashed cheques for gambling chips which then bounced, to the High Court to recover the money he owes. 

The Chinese man’s family had an estimated fortune of $1.3 billion when he became a casino member in 2014. He cashed cheques for $26 billion between April 27 and May 1 in 2018. However, the court said all the cheques were “subsequently dishonored”, as reported by Daily Mail. 

A judge ruled he now owes the casino $13.7 million, including legal costs and interests, after an application for global freezing order was rejected as there was “insufficient evidence” that Yu Songbo was hiding his assets to avoid repaying the debt. 

The order was rejected again by a panel of three Court of Appeal judges, though it said there was “undoubtedly evidence that Mr. Yu was disinclined to pay his gambling debts voluntarily”. Nonetheless, they added that “there is no evidence that Mr. Yo had ever taken any steps to put his assets out of the reach of creditors”. 

Les Ambassadeurs also took legal action against Sheikh Salah Hamdan Albluewi, the chair of a Saudi Arabian construction and property empire, over claims he attempted to avoid a debt of $2.7 million after he sent 17 cheques which bounced. A global freezing order imposed on his assets was lifted last year.