23-8-2023 (HONG KONG) Calvin Lo, a Hong Kong-based insurance broker, is under scrutiny for allegedly inflating his wealth to secure a place on Forbes’ Billionaires list. Lo’s claims, including ownership of a stake in a Formula 1 racing team, a $250 million champagne collection, a luxury resort hotel, and various high-end properties, were investigated by Forbes and found to be unsubstantiated.
In order to be featured on Forbes’ billionaire list, Lo portrayed himself to the magazine as the CEO and owner of R.E. Lee International, described as the world’s largest life insurance broker with $1 billion in premiums, and the founder of R.E. Lee Capital, an asset management company with assets ranging from $8 billion to $10 billion. Additionally, he claimed to be Asia’s largest champagne investor and collector and one of the early owners of a Gulfstream G650 private jet in Asia. Forbes found no evidence supporting these assertions.
One of Lo’s claims was the purchase of the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Taipei for $1.2 billion in 2018 through his private investment vehicle, R.E. Lee Octagon. However, Forbes could not verify the existence of R.E. Lee Octagon as a registered entity.
After Forbes published its investigation, it was revealed that the source of the claims originated from an article in “Forbes Middle East,” an independently operated version of the magazine. The article was later identified as an “advertorial” submitted by Lo’s team and has since been removed.
Lo responded to Forbes’ report by criticizing it as one-sided, false, and misleading. He announced his intention to take legal action against Forbes, emphasizing that he was not obligated to disclose his personal financial information.
Shirley Cheung, Lo’s girlfriend and former partner of Hong Kong actress Bernice Liu, publicly acknowledged her relationship with Lo and attributed the controversy to mishandling by a UK-based PR company hired by Lo. Forbes shareholder Yam Tak-Cheung apologized for the mishandling by the PR company and expressed support for Forbes’ report.
Forbes China published a formal statement by Yam Tak-Cheung, clarifying his support for Forbes’ report and his refusal to apologize for it. Yam Tak-Cheung also stated his intent to pursue legal action against individuals or organizations spreading false information.
Further investigation revealed that an article on a local free newspaper’s website had been removed but was still accessible on the messaging app’s website where it was originally published.
R.E. Lee Capital Pte Ltd, a licensed fund management firm in Singapore, disassociated itself from Calvin Lo, stating that he had no connection or dealings with the firm. This development is significant in the ongoing scandal involving Calvin Lo.
Additionally, Hong Kong media HK01 reported that Calvin Lo is facing a lawsuit filed by his mother seeking to recover HK$40 million from him.
