Chinese Court Freezes $182 Million From Faraday Future Backer

A court in China has frozen $182 million in assets of Jia Yueting, the billionaire founder of LeEco and the major backer of U.S. electric car startup Faraday Future.

Earlier this week, the Shanghai High People’s Court announced the move because of LeEco’s repeated failure to pay interest due on loans despite multiple requests for repayment.

The decision to freeze many of Yueting’s assets also comes after he stepped down as chief executive of LeEco a few weeks ago and then on Thursday, relinquished his position on the company’s board of directors and as chairman.

Speaking to Jalopnik about the developments at its major backer, Faraday Future insisted that it would have no impact on its business and goal of bringing the FF 91 electric crossover to the market next year.

“We are aware that YT’s equity has been frozen in China as a normal legal procedure to preserve the assets as YT’s had undertaken personal guarantee to LeEco’s mobile phone business.

“This news has no impact on FF’s daily operations, and aligns with FF’s immediate goals of diversifying FF’s investment sources, and getting FF 91 on the road within 2018,” Faraday Future said.

Yueting has yet to comment on the financial position of Faraday Future or the LeSee electric car being developed by his company.