New York Businessman Sues Chinese State-Backed Lender and Developer, Alleging Scheme to Seize $674 Million Real Estate Project
NEW YORK, NY – Cuneo Gilbert Flannery & LaDuca, LLP (CGFL) has filed a lawsuit in New York Supreme Court on behalf of New York resident Bo Zhang, alleging that a Chinese state-backed financial institution and a once prominent Chinese conglomerate colluded with multiple other conspirators to take his company and his $674 million real estate project.
According to the complaint, China Cinda Asset Management Co., the Chinese government-created financial institution, approached Mr. Zhang and led him to move his loan to Cinda. In exchange, Cinda required him to put up the entire development as collateral for a loan worth a fraction of its value. Cinda also required a pledge of 99% of Mr. Zhang’s company’s shares as part of the condition for the loan.
Cinda then brought in Sichuan Languang Development Co. to sell the homes and guarantee the loan. The lawsuit alleges that the two companies, with the participation of many other co-conspirators, set up a plan to manufacture a default on Mr. Zhang’s loan, and, through a rigged public auction, handed the development and Mr. Zhang’s company to a Languang subsidiary for zero consideration. The illegal gains were shared among the conspirators.
“Mr. Zhang is a dedicated entrepreneur poured his life’s work into the Jinan Project—literally transforming a barren urban hill, stone by stone, into a major commercial reality built on years of vision and expectation. He was never late on his business loan and maintained an excellent personal credit history,” said Evelyn Riley, partner at CGFL. “Instead of seeing his life’s dedication honored, he was targeted by a scheme designed to strip him of everything. The Defendants systematically blocked Mr. Zhang from receiving a fair hearing in China, ultimately forcing him to liquidate his New York home. He even faced death threats in New York simply for refusing to surrender to the Defendants’ demands. We are proud to stand with him as he seeks justice in a New York court.”
The lawsuit also alleges that Cinda concealed the transactions from its investors, including New York-based shareholders. It brings claims for fraud, unjust enrichment, and civil conspiracy against Cinda, Languang, their affiliates and executives, and their coconspirators, and seeks compensatory and punitive damages. Plaintiffs have demanded a jury trial.
“This case is about whether powerful institutions can use the machinery of finance and the courts to take what does not belong to them,” said Charles J. LaDuca, chairman of CGFL. “Mr. Zhang built something remarkable and played by the rules. He deserves a fair hearing, and New York courts can give him one.”
Mr. Zhang is represented by CGFL chairman Charles J. LaDuca, partner Evelyn Riley, and attorneys Vienna Chan and Sam Pritchett.
The case is Zhang et al. v. China Cinda Asset Management Co., Ltd. et al., filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York.