Ex-CEO claims signature was forged
Walter Kwok, who was boss between Oct 2003 and mid-2008 of Sun Hung Kai Properties — the Hong Kong company purportedly providing guarantees on property transactions AIB provided loans for — has denied any knowledge of the deals.
Mr Kwok gave evidence via a video link in Hong Kong which jurors at Southwark crown court in London heard. He said purported guarantees signed by his firm to help Achilleas Kallakis buy UK properties were forged.
AIB advanced £740m to companies directly or indirectly under the control of the Kallakis in order to buy 16 properties, mainly in London.
Mr Kallakis and his business partner, Alexander Williams, are accused of more than £60m of fraud against AIB and Bank of Scotland. Both have pleaded not guilty to 23 counts.
Mr Kwok responded “no” when asked if he had ever conducted business with, or ever known, Mr Kallakis or Mr Williams.
When presented with documents with his purported signature on them, Mr Kwok said none of the signatures were his. “As far as I am concerned, that document is nothing to do with SHKP. It is a forged document,” he said about one document.
He admitted that when AIB visited SHKP in Sep 2008 with concerns about the deals, he did not meet with them.
The case continues.
