Millionaire businessman Hongtao Liu was cast out as a child in favour of his ‘full-of-s**t’ brother, $50m lawsuit trial told

A millionaire who died without a will warned friends not to trust his brother and said his mother “drove him out” when he was a child to sell fruit in the street, a court hears.

A Chinese millionaire was “driven out”, as a child, by his mother in favour of his older brother who was, he warned his Australian business partner, “full of s---”, a court has heard.

The oldest friend of late businessman Hongtao Liu has given evidence in the Supreme Court battle between his wife and mother for control of his $50 million global empire.

Shao Fei Liang told the court she met Mr Liu when he was 12 years old – at the time, he was selling watermelons on the streets of China.

“Quite often he told me that, when he was young, he was driven out … his mum didn’t love him … if she had an egg, she would give it under the table to her elder son,” she said.

“Before he died, he told me that he had to keep physically well.

“Otherwise, he worried that if anything happened to him, his mother and his elder brother Hongbin would bully his wife and children.”

Mr Liu’s wife, Xianting Kong, told the court her husband’s fear came to pass immediately after his death – and before his funeral had begun.

Xianting Kong, left, outside court. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Brenton Edwards.

Junying Yan, mother of millionaire businessman Hongtao Liu, outside court. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Brenton Edwards.

“On the morning Hongtao was buried, Hongbin came to me and told me that ‘from now on, you must listen to me and I will be in charge of the whole of your matters’,” she said.

“When I showed my disagreement he started to scream in my home, scaring my children and making me cry.”

Mr Liu died in November 2018 without a will – Ms Kong wants his estate awarded to her and the couple’s children, as per Australian law, because they became citizens in 2016.

However his mother, Junying Yan, claims Mr Liu intended to return to China, and therefore that country’s law – under which she will inherit the estate – should be followed.

In his evidence, Mr Liu’s former business partner, John Peter Edwards, said the concept of his friend leaving Australia was never discussed – but his childhood was.

“Hongtao said he had left home quite young, and that his brother ‘got the lollies’ and so he had no time for him,” he said.

“He thought his brother was a loose cannon and that we’d need to be careful about what we told him about what we were doing in Australia.

“He said ‘be very careful of him (Hongbin)’ and told me ‘he is full of s--’.”

The trial, before Justice Tim Stanley, continues.