Fashion Mall developer countersues owner

The Fashion Mall in Plantation
The Fashion Mall in Plantation

Wei Chen, the man in charge of the redevelopment of Fashion Mall in Plantation, filed a lawsuit against the mall’s largest investor after being accused of misappropriating funds.

Recently, China-based Tangshan Ganglu Iron & Steel Co. filed a lawsuit accusing Chen of misappropriating $48.7 million of the $50 million in funding that it provided for the redevelopment project. Specifically, the lawsuit claims Chen attempted to acquire property in his name although the funds for the purchases came from Ganglu, according to the South Florida Business Journal. 

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Now Chen is firing back. He claims that Ganglu’s accusations against him are false and that the company’s chairman, Zeng Zhen Du, used the mall to raise money from foreign investors, which Du could then pocket.

Ganglu owns 80 percent of the project, while Chen owns the other 20 percent. [SFBJ]Christopher Cameron