Court Freezes $182 Million in Assets of Chinese Internet Tycoon<br />By RYAN McMORROW and OWEN GUOJULY 4, 2017<br />BEIJING — A court in Shanghai has frozen $182 million in assets tied to the chairman of<br />the Chinese technology company LeEco after one of its affiliates missed loan payments.<br />A company spokesman confirmed that the court had frozen assets connected to a loan for LeEco’s<br />mobile phone business, Le Mobile, but said collateral was enough to cover the debt.<br />The ruling last week by the Shanghai High People’s Court was the latest setback for the chairman, Jia Yueting,<br />and for LeEco, which has piled on debt in recent years to fuel its ambitious expansion.<br />Last week, at a shareholder meeting of LeEco’s main publicly listed arm, Leshi Internet, he acknowledged<br />that the company had made mistakes in allocating funds<br />The frozen assets belonged to Mr. Jia, his wife, and three LeEco affiliates, the state news agency Xinhua reported, citing court documents.<br />It is a personal blow for Mr. Jia, one of China’s most outspoken technology figures,<br />who in recent years had pledged to challenge American giants like Apple and Tesla.
