Thr family of the late tycoon Henry Fok Ying-tung reached an out of court agreement on Thursday on a bid by Benjamin Fok Chun-yue to remove his elder brother, Ian Fok Chun-wan, as executor of their father's will. The settlement came after three consecutive adjournments in proceedings and intensive discussions among all parties concerned over the last three days.

Negotiations, started on Tuesday morning, to settle the dispute brought to court by Benjamin Fok against his elder brothers Ian Fok, a Silver Bauhinia Star holder, and Timothy Fok Tsun-ting, an outgoing lawmaker and member of the International Olympic Committee.

The hearing in the Court of First Instance was supposed to start at 2:30 pm on Thursday, but lawyers requested again an adjournment for another hour, claiming all sides were "close to agreement".

When the parties returned to court, Linda Chan, appearing for the 5th defendant, Nora Fok Lai-lor, told Justice Jeremy Poon Shiu-chor that the parties had reached "principles of agreement" and "a hearing will not be necessary". She has applied for another adjournment to let the parties deal with needed documentations by this afternoon.

Benjamin Fok, the youngest son of Henry Fok's first wife Fok Lui Yin-nei, is seeking a summary judgment - a ruling without full trial - to dislodge Ian Fok from the role of executor of his father's will on the basis of the younger brother's claim that the elder Fok pocketed HK$1.4 billion from Henry Fok's Estates.

He also seeks removal of his aunt Fok Mo-kan as executrix of the estate, claiming that the 85-year-old has played no role in the administration of the estate.

Together on the list of co-defendants are his 11 siblings, his mother and his father's two other wives, in order that they be bound by the court ruling.

Henry Fok died of cancer in 2006, bequeathing a HK$29-billion inheritance and business empire to his family. According to his last will written in 1978, Henry appointed Benjamin, Ian, his sister Fok Mo-kan and her husband (who died in 1993) to be executors and trustees of the estate.

In another lawsuit, Benjamin is seeking to recover from Ian the share holdings of three offshore firms, assets held in three offshore bank accounts and shares in the estate. Benjamin claimed Ian had appropriated the assets without the knowledge or consent of other executors and had failed to provide authorizations.

Meanwhile, Benjamin Fok is asking the court to order his eldest brother Timothy Fok to hand over their father's "black book", in which he kept records of his assets and other information.

Henry Fok was one of Hong Kong's most powerful businessmen who built important ties with the mainland at the time of the Korean War. Soon after, he began to prosper when he started to invest in the booming local real estate market and the gaming industry in Macao. In later years he became an influential investor on the mainland.

Henry Fok was named a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in 1980, and was promoted to vice-chairman in 1993 - a position he held until he died.

mingyeung@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 08/03/2012 page1)