Accused of wrongly taking $900,000 out of an Auckland property development she had just sold, Sifen Li claims it was a loan repayment made with the knowledge of Belvedere Residential Ltd’s new owner, Richard Lee.
The High Court imposed a freezing order over Ms Li’s assets, pending a full hearing.
The property development had its genesis in a 2021 agreement to buy a site on Belvedere Place in Warkworth for eleven million dollars.
Over the next twelve months, a deposit of $1.5 million was paid in three equal instalments, funded from various sources associated with Ms Li.
By early 2024, Ms Li was in sole control of Belvedere Residential Ltd and its Warkworth development, other investors having since departed. Seven months later, she sold out to Richard Lee, who then took control of Belvedere.
The High Court was told Ms Li continued to have access to Belvedere’s bank account with Mr Lee’s consent and had authority to make payments on Belvedere’s behalf.
A $900,000 April 2025 transfer of Belvedere funds to Ms Li’s personal bank account proved contentious.
This was repayment of funds previously lent to Belvedere, used to pay the $1.5 million deposit, she says.
The deposit was an equity contribution put in by Ms Li, Mr Lee says.
If so, this equity contribution was taken into account when calculating the price paid by Mr Lee when buying Belvedere.
In the High Court, Justice Gardiner said that limited evidence before the court indicated funds for the deposit could have been either a loan or an equity contribution.
A full hearing is needed to decide.
In the interim, Justice Gardiner imposed a freeze prohibiting sale of a property owned by Ms Li on Clonbern Road in Auckland suburb Remuera and a similar freeze over shareholdings in four separate companies she owns plus a freeze over her personal bank accounts.
The amount frozen is limited to one million dollars. Ms Li is permitted to draw down on her personal bank accounts to pay ordinary living expenses and her company bank accounts to pay business expenses.
Justice Gardiner said a wide freezing order is necessary because of her apparent practice of mixing personal and business assets.
The court was told Mr Lee’s Belvedere Residential is in financial difficulty, with evidence of Belvedere’s property listed for mortgagee sale.
Belvedere Residential Ltd v. Li – High Court (10.10.25)
25.218