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Vitasoy heiress sues prominent Hong Kong art dealer over Banksy painting
High Court writ alleges that gallery owner Pearl Lam obtained £500,000 from plaintiff Karen Lo by falsely representing that she had bought Banksy’s Show Me The Monet.
A prominent gallery owner is facing a multimillion-dollar lawsuit for allegedly duping an heiress of Hong Kong drinks giant Vitasoy International into paying her for a painting by British street artist Banksy that was never delivered.
A High Court writ filed on Tuesday alleges that art dealer Pearl Ling Meng-chu, also known as Pearl Lam, obtained £500,000 (US$613,000) from plaintiff Karen Lo Ki-yan by falsely representing that she had bought Banksy’s Show Me The Monet on the latter’s behalf.
Lo is a granddaughter of the late Lo Kwee-seong, who founded beverage giant Vitasoy back in 1940.
The writ prepared by the Lee Law solicitor firm contends that Lam, daughter of the late Hong Kong tycoon Lim Por-yen, had knowingly made false and negligent representations to Lo that she had acquired the painting “with the predominant motive to injure the plaintiff”.
Lam is separately accused of owing a HK$5 million loan to Lo.
Lo is seeking damages against Lam for “deceit”, together with the return of the £500,000 and the outstanding loan. A hearing has yet to be scheduled, according to the judiciary’s website.
Banksy’s 2005 painting is a modern take on Claude Monet’s impressionist classic The Water-Lily Pond. It depicts a lily pond resembling the one shown in Monet’s masterpiece, but with discarded shopping trolleys and a traffic cone floating in the water beneath a Japanese-style bridge.
It fetched nearly £7.6 million at a Sotheby’s auction in London in October 2020, which was then the second highest price paid for a work by the secretive street artist whose real name and identity have never been confirmed.
Reuters news agency quoted Lam’s office as saying it had already offered a full refund to the claimant and would “look forward to resolving this matter promptly”.
Lam’s gallery is a participant of Art Basel Hong Kong, the city’s largest contemporary art fair, which was held for the first time since 2019.
Lo’s grandfather created the first ready-to-drink soy milk to provide Hongkongers an affordable and healthy alternative to dairy milk. These days, Hong Kong-listed Vitasoy’s products range from ice lemon tea to fruit juices, and they can be found in 40 countries.
A High Court writ filed on Tuesday alleges that art dealer Pearl Ling Meng-chu, also known as Pearl Lam, obtained £500,000 (US$613,000) from plaintiff Karen Lo Ki-yan by falsely representing that she had bought Banksy’s Show Me The Monet on the latter’s behalf.
Lo is a granddaughter of the late Lo Kwee-seong, who founded beverage giant Vitasoy back in 1940.
The writ prepared by the Lee Law solicitor firm contends that Lam, daughter of the late Hong Kong tycoon Lim Por-yen, had knowingly made false and negligent representations to Lo that she had acquired the painting “with the predominant motive to injure the plaintiff”.
Lam is separately accused of owing a HK$5 million loan to Lo.
Lo is seeking damages against Lam for “deceit”, together with the return of the £500,000 and the outstanding loan. A hearing has yet to be scheduled, according to the judiciary’s website.
Banksy’s 2005 painting is a modern take on Claude Monet’s impressionist classic The Water-Lily Pond. It depicts a lily pond resembling the one shown in Monet’s masterpiece, but with discarded shopping trolleys and a traffic cone floating in the water beneath a Japanese-style bridge.
It fetched nearly £7.6 million at a Sotheby’s auction in London in October 2020, which was then the second highest price paid for a work by the secretive street artist whose real name and identity have never been confirmed.
Reuters news agency quoted Lam’s office as saying it had already offered a full refund to the claimant and would “look forward to resolving this matter promptly”.
Lam’s gallery is a participant of Art Basel Hong Kong, the city’s largest contemporary art fair, which was held for the first time since 2019.
Lo’s grandfather created the first ready-to-drink soy milk to provide Hongkongers an affordable and healthy alternative to dairy milk. These days, Hong Kong-listed Vitasoy’s products range from ice lemon tea to fruit juices, and they can be found in 40 countries.
