Singaporean tycoon loses S$35m in 48-hour gambling spree in Australia
A Singaporean real estate tycoon made Australian history when he became one of its biggest losers.
Huang Youlong, who’s also the ex-husband of Chinese actress Zhao Wei, had lost over AUD60 million (S$53 million) — including AUD40 million (S$35 million) in mere 48 hours — in a gambling spree gone wrong.
The matter came to light earlier this week when the High Court of Hong Kong released documents detailing a lawsuit the Singaporean faced.
According to The West Australian, the casino’s former vice president of marketing sued the tycoon, Huang Youlong, saying that he owed her interest despite already settling the principal.
Casino VP makes arrangement for tycoon to gamble
The issue began when the China-born tycoon landed in West Australia in Feb 2015.
He tried to gamble at Crown Perth, but was swiftly denied after the casino found that the 49-year-old still owed “substantial gaming debts” to other casinos.
Source: The West Australian
That was when Michelle Chua, the woman who would later sue him, stepped in.
To get the whale to play at their tables, Ms Chua made an “internal casino arrangement” through the casino operator Suncity.
Ms Chua purchased AUD40 million worth of gaming chips for Mr Huang, under the agreement that he would repay her in three months. However, he lost it all within 48 hours.
Wanting to keep playing, he asked for an additional AUD20 million, which she got for him. That money was also lost in the following days.
Image courtesy of Javon Swaby on Canva. For illustration purposes only.
Tycoon struggles to repay debt
In the following months, Mr Huang’s attempts to repay the debt were rough.
He had his personal assistant write three checks as collateral for his debt, but when Ms Chua tried to cash in one of them, it bounced.
In Aug 2015, the tycoon tried purchasing a mansion for Ms Chua as a form of repayment, News.com.au reported.
Although he made an AUD1.8 million (S$1.6 million) deposit on it, he was unable to pay the remainder of the AUD12.8 million (S$11.5 million) price tag.
This left Ms Chua to pay the difference.
The court was told the house was intended as a wedding gift to Ms Chua. Mr Huang had wanted to express his gratitude for her help in managing his debt.
Former casino VP ordered to pay costs
Despite the rough start, the tycoon eventually paid off the entire debt by 2019.
However, Ms Chua filed suit against Mr Huang, claiming that he personally owed her 24% per annum in interest on the late payments, The West Australian reported.
The Hong Kong court ruled against her, saying her arguments were not credible.
“[It] does not sit comfortably with basic commercial common sense and ordinary logic of events,” the judge said.
The court then ordered Ms Fong to pay costs.
Meanwhile, Mr Huang, who did not appear in court claiming he is unable to fly from France because of “chest pains”, was also reprimanded by the judge.
He called Mr Huang’s medical document “unreliable”, adding that the French doctor had not bothered listing a diagnosis or any medical analysis.
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Featured image adapted from The West Australian and Google Maps.
