Carlo Festa, journalist of Il Sole 24 Ore, talked about Yonghong Li on his blog on the website of the famous business newspaper: "Imagine a highway that leads directly to a ravine. In short, sure death. But a kilometre before, fortunately, there are at least two emergency exits to take to save yourself. But the driver decides to continue on the highway and then he ends up in the ravine. How would you define the one who makes such a choice? A suicide? A fool? Here Yonghong Li has more or less made a decision of this kind, even if there was fortunately no life on the table but over 500 million euros, that is the figure lost with the passage of Milan to Elliott. The problem is that you can't understand why Mr. Li did it this way. Let's explain it better: Just who writes, April 14 last year, that is' the day of closing, has provided this ending with dozens of articles that highlighted the inconsistencies of Mr. Li. To the point of writing also a book with a prophetic title. Now, after 15 months, you have to ask yourself many questions. Mr. Li is not, in fact, according to past testimonies, neither a madman nor a suicide. The Chinese Consob testifies him when he fined him for a stock exchange transaction. This is confirmed by dozens of articles, always in Chinese newspapers, about his past business and about the many nominees that have appeared in the past. Until a double identity case. Mr Li's money came mysteriously through triangulations in tax havens to then get there in Luxembourg and then in Italy. The accounts of Italian banks received that money. Before that of Fininvest in Unicredit, then closed after the acquisition. Then, for the capital increases of Yonghong Li, that of BPM of Milan, of the branch of via Turati: an account used by Milan already in the age of Biscione.
The problem that remains to be understood, the problem to be solved, is whether this money respected or not the kyc bank requirement, that is know your customer, you know your client. If the Bank of Italy must be asked to do so, it has launched some Sos on some capital flows, about 200 million euros, to the Milan Public Prosecutor's Office, which then opened a file without investigations and without the possibility of a crime. Being able to get between 500 and 600 million euros in Italy is not common to everyone. Mr. Li has a modest heritage in China. He was never supported by the Chinese government, despite all the hoaxes that were running at the time. Part of that money came from Huarong, the Chinese capital manager. But it was not a direct commitment of Huarong, but rather a loan or a role of trust company, to cover, to shield someone who wanted to remain unknown. Another small part came from a small company based in the Cayman, Teamway, which a few months ago was headed by a Chinese movie star and her husband, known to have been sanctioned by both the Chinese Consob. Yonghong Li had to have his headquarters in Hong Kong. But imagine the surprise of Reuters correspondent in Hong Kong when entering the room on the tenth floor, designated as the headquarters of Mr. Li, and 'found in front of two boxes, phones disconnected for not paying bills and dishes with worms inside. All witnessed by images unveiled in Italy by Report. But back to the acquisition and financing with Elliott. It's been 15 months since April last year when Paul Singer's American fund, thanks to a € 303 million loan, allowed the Chinese Yonghong Li to buy the club from Fininvest and plan the financially sumptuous purchase campaign of the last season. In retrospect, that move, which at that time had seemed very risky, turned out to be a real boomerang for the Chinese businessman who will be remembered for being not only the worst president of the Rossoneri history (with the disqualification of a year in the cups by UEFA), but also as the one who lost more money (about 500 million) in the shortest possible time (15 months) in the history of football. Yet the Chinese Yonghong Li has had several opportunities to avoid a disastrous ending of this kind. He could have reached an agreement with the American Rocco Commisso, accepting a minority stake in Milan, and limiting losses well before last week's Friday when his Luxembourgian vehicle, Rossoneri Lux, ended up in default with Elliott for only €32 million, compared to €500 million already paid. He could also evaluate the Ricketts family's offer. Instead, Yonghong Li continued in his mad rush that led him directly to the economic ruin without batting an eyelid. How else to define the loss not only of Milan, but also of an investment of over €500 million euros? For him, together with his wife, to count on a personal patrimony of more or less the same amount. Perhaps the future will reveal who Yonghong Li really is and why he ventured into this dead end. For now, the latest rumours would give him committed to find out maximum time a solution to be submitted to Elliott to limit the damage. Perhaps coming also to a legal dispute. But the US group, which has acted through one of its debt funds, probably will not leave it. In the statement released on the night between Tuesday and Wednesday from New York, no mention was made of what the club's controlling shareholder had been until two days earlier.
Now, in the folds of the loan agreement signed with Elliott 15 months ago, it remains to be seen whether or not there is a partial defence clause that allows it to take advantage of the extra profit, exceeding the repayment of Elliott and the creditors, in case of the future sale of the club rossonero. However, it seems that this clause does not exist and that therefore the Chinese businessman will hardly be able to obtain anything except perhaps by starting a legal case, which could be long and tiring. In any case, the question arises: why did Mr. Li accept a contract so penalizing 15 months ago? A real halter contracts. Now by Mr. Li, the businessman who did not know English, who spoke a very narrow Mandarin dialect, who never wanted to appear before the press, who never wanted to give interviews, the Chinese with the fingernail of the very long pinkie (a habit that in China is fashionable among the Chinese out of poverty) there is no longer any trace in the newspaper articles, neither among the fans, nor in the financial world. Mr. Li disappeared in the same way he appeared, suddenly and mysteriously, 15 months earlier in the agreement signed with Fininvest