Lending money to friends is always a gamble. Lending millions to a friend desperate to avoid a prison cell for manslaughter is a different level of risk entirely.
Diana King Yuen-fung is finding this out the hard way. The retiree just launched a massive lawsuit in the Hong Kong High Court against her former friend, 94-year-old Franklin Li Wang-pong. She wants her money back. All HK$12.17 million of it.
The backstory reads like a dark psychological thriller. Li, a former plastic surgeon, found himself at the center of a horrific medical scandal in 2018 when a private banker died after receiving a botched Botox treatment at his Tsim Sha Tsui clinic. Fast forward to 2023, and Li was staring down a high-profile criminal prosecution for gross negligence manslaughter. Terrified of spending his final years behind bars, Li allegedly begged King for cash to fund his elite legal defense team. She felt for him and opened her wallet.
Now, the criminal case is over, Li walks free, and King is left holding an empty bag.
Where the Millions Went
King met the former doctor and his wife in early 2023. They quickly became close, sharing numerous dinners and building what King thought was a genuine bond. By April of that year, Li confessed his legal predicament. He was desperate. According to court writs, he explicitly told King he didn't want to go to jail but was completely running out of money to pay his defense lawyers.
Between May 2023 and August 2024, King acted as a personal ATM for the doctor. She sent funds across 14 separate bank transfers to keep his legal team paid.
The trouble started when King tried to collect. By mid-2025, she began asking for her money back. Li didn't pay. Instead, he gave her excuses. He allegedly spun a tale about a phenomenally wealthy son living in the United States who would step in and settle the entire debt. King tried to track down this mysterious, affluent son. She found nothing. No son materialized, and not a single dollar was repaid.
A Jury Conviction Without a Sentence
The underlying tragedy that triggered this financial mess happened on November 11, 2018. Zoe Cheung Shuk-ling, a 52-year-old private banker, walked into Li's clinic in Grand Centre for routine cosmetic injections. She never made it out alive.
Cheung collapsed and died after being injected with Botox and an excessive cocktail of sedatives. The case horrified the city and exposed a shocking level of medical misconduct.
When the case finally reached a High Court jury, the panel came to a staggering conclusion. They ruled that Li had indeed committed all the acts alleged in the indictment. He failed to properly assess the risks of the sedatives. He actively concealed critical information from emergency hospital staff and police officers. The jury agreed his severe negligence unlawfully killed the banker.
Yet, Li never spent a day in a prison cell for it.
Because of his advanced age, Li was diagnosed with severe dementia. The court ruled him mentally unfit to stand trial or enter a formal plea. In November, he was granted an absolute discharge, walking out of court unconditionally free. Earlier this year, prosecutors formally dropped another 21 outstanding charges against him, including misleading police and failing to properly maintain a register of dangerous drugs, purely because of his cognitive decline.
The Courtroom Reality of Unregulated Friendly Loans
King is now demanding the full HK$12.17 million principal, plus mounting interest and legal fees. But recovering money from a defendant who has already been legally certified with advanced dementia is an uphill battle.
This case highlights the messy reality of informal lending. When people lend money to friends in crisis, emotion completely overrides logic. You want to help, so you skip the formal paperwork.
If you ever find yourself considering a significant loan to a friend or associate, you need to protect yourself immediately before moving a single dollar.
- Draft a formal promissory note: Do not rely on WhatsApp promises or verbal reassurances during a dinner. You need a legally binding document detailing the exact loan amount, interest rates, and a strict repayment schedule.
- Secure the loan against assets: If someone claims they have money tied up or expect a windfall, demand collateral. Tie the loan to real estate, equity, or valuable property that you can legally seize if they default.
- Verify the exit strategy: Li claimed a rich American son would pay his bills. King took his word for it. Never accept a third-party repayment guarantee without speaking directly to that party and getting their signature on the contract.
King trusted a friend who was desperate to stay out of jail. Li got exactly what he wanted: top-tier legal protection and an absolute discharge. King got excuses and a massive legal bill of her own.
