Actor Louis Koo and production company sued for over HK$149 million over alleged loan default

Hong Kong film actor and director Louis Koo Tin-lok and his production company have been sued for more than HK$149 million (US$19 million) for allegedly failing to repay a loan from an offshore firm seven years ago.

Sino Hero Ventures, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands, a reputed tax haven, initiated civil proceedings in the High Court on Wednesday accusing Koo and One Cool Film Production of failing to repay a HK$70 million loan the plaintiff extended on September 6, 2019.

Koo played a leading role in the 2024 blockbuster martial arts film, Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In, which has rekindled public interest in the Kowloon Walled City.

According to the writ, seen by the South China Morning Post on Thursday, the interest under the terms of the loan accrued at a monthly rate of 1 per cent, or 12 per cent per annum, and rose to 1.5 per cent per month, or 18 per cent per annually, in the event of a default in repayment.

The due date of repayment had been extended twice until the end of 2022, but the defendants had only repaid HK$13.9 million since January that year, the writ said.