Gome board sues founder and ex-chairman Huang Guangyu

Gome Electrical Appliances Holding (0493.HK) filed suit yesterday against the company’s founder and largest shareholder, Huang Guangyu, in a struggle for control of the huge electronics retailer, the South China Morning Post reported. The move comes only months after a mainland court jailed Huang for economic crimes. Gome seeks unspecified compensation from its disgraced ex-chairman for "breach of fiduciary duties" as a director, an alleged breach related to a repurchase of the company’s own shares in early 2008. A day before Gome filed the suit, its board received a letter from Shinning Crown Holdings – a company wholly owned by Huang and a substantial Gome shareholder – proposing that chairman Chen Xiao and executive director Sun Yiding be removed. Shinning asked that Huang Yanhong, Huang’s sister, and Zou Xiaochun, chairman of Beijing Centergate Technologies (000931.SZ), a property firm controlled by Huang Guangyu, be appointed as replacements.