The Chevalier Group's Zhou Yiqing inheritance dispute case report plans to cite specialist doctors' reports

The founder of Chevalier International (00025.HK), Zhou Yiqing, passed away in 2018, leading to a family inheritance lawsuit. His fifth daughter, Zhou Huihui, and sixth daughter, Zhou Weiwei, have now applied to the court for permission to submit an additional expert report, which includes a factual statement from hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgeon Dr. Lu Chongmao regarding the permission obtained before Zhou Yiqing's cancer surgery. Judge Ouyang Haorong stated that he needs time to consider and will issue a written judgment within three months.

The defendants have applied to cite expert reports, authored by neurologist Dr. He Dingguo and hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgeon Dr. Lu Chongmao. The defendants claim that Dr. He Dingguo's report will support that Zhou Yiqing had the mental capacity to make a will before his stroke and will provide the MRI scans from that time as evidence. Dr. Lu Chongmao, who performed the cancer surgery on Zhou Yiqing, explained the purpose and details of the surgery to Zhou Yiqing before the operation to obtain his consent. However, Zhou Yiqing indicated that he had more important matters (i.e., making a will) to attend to first, and therefore wished to postpone the surgery date.

During his lifetime, Zhou Yiqing made four wills, with the last one in 2015 allocating over 189 million shares, or 62.76% equity, of Chevalier International to his fifth daughter, Zhou Huihui, while the remaining estate was distributed to Zhou Yiqing's wife and five other children. His eldest daughter, Zhou Lili, filed a lawsuit in the High Court in 2019 against his fifth daughter, Zhou Huihui, and sixth daughter, Zhou Weiwei, questioning the validity of the 2015 will, arguing that Zhou Yiqing was either unaware or lacked mental capacity due to his stroke when making the will