Lux Locations asks the Court to jail YIDA principal for deliberate non-payment of a debt it is owed
Chinese investor Yida Zhang could be facing jail time, since the principals of Lux Locations – the Jolly Harbour-based real estate firm – are asking the Court to commit him to His Majesty’s Prison for deliberate non-payment of a debt due to the company.
In a press statement, Lux Locations addresses the latest development in the long-running litigation between itself and the Chinese developer.
Reportedly, this action follows the Privy Council’s January 31 ruling, which rejects as “fabricated” Yida’s claim that he had not understood a 2017 court order under which he agreed to pay outstanding fees to Lux Locations.
The fees relate to Lux’s role in his US$60 million purchase of the land that now forms the Special Economic Zone in Antigua’s north-east.
Directors of Lux Locations Nadia and Sam Dyson, in commenting on the development, say it is disappointing that they had to take this step in order to get what is owed to them, adding that they are not doing so lightly.
However, the directors say that “almost two months after the Privy Council saw through Yida’s false claims not to have understood what he was agreeing to in 2017, he has still not paid what he owes our company.”
They claim that the Chinese investor is clearly able to pay what he owes if he so decides, and that his refusal to do so has left them with no choice but to apply to the court for a committal order.
The Dysons are also taking “this opportunity to draw attention to the charging order over the shares in Mr. Yida’s company and to the injunction against any land sales without prior written notice.”
Reportedly Yida’s shares in YIDA International Investment Antigua Limited, the company that owns the land, are subject to a court-imposed final charging order in favour of Lux Locations.
Therefore, both Yida and the company are expressly forbidden, by a court order, from selling any land without first giving 14 days’ written notice to the attorneys of Lux Locations.
Yida has commenced construction on his multi-million dollar development at Guiana Island; however, many years have passed and the work is not even close to being completed.
In fact, work apparently has stopped, as the location is being overtaken by the bush.
