BEIJING • A Chinese government housing vice-minister has lodged a US$10 million (S$13.7 million) defamation lawsuit against exiled billionaire Guo Wengui in New York over claims he made that she had engaged in corruption and provided sexual favours..
BEIJING • A Chinese government housing vice-minister has lodged a US$10 million (S$13.7 million) defamation lawsuit against exiled billionaire Guo Wengui in New York over claims he made that she had engaged in corruption and provided sexual favours.
Ms Huang Yan, vice-minister of housing and urban-rural development, filed the complaint with the New York State Supreme Court last Wednesday, saying Mr Guo’s « false and outrageous » claims, made in a YouTube video in May, had caused her « severe emotional distress » and « mental anguish ».
It is the first legal case brought by an individual Chinese government official since Mr Guo began accusing high-level Communist Party members of corruption, and represents an exceedingly rare instance of a senior serving official pursuing legal action against a person overseas.
Ms Huang’s complaint says Mr Guo, also known as Miles Kwok, had falsely alleged that she helped real estate developers secure project approvals by providing sexual favours to a Beijing government official, and in turn received property assets from the developers who benefited.
