China’s insurance giant Anbang Group Holdings Co. filed a countersuit against previous Korean owners of stakes in Korea’s Tongyang Life Insurance complaining of delayed payment for the 2015 deal, accusing them of hiding risks in then Korea’s eighth largest life insurer.

Yuanta Securities Korea Co., one of the defendants, said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday that Anbang Group Holdings sued five Korean firms with the ICC International Court of Arbitration based in Hong Kong and demanded 698 billion won ($612 million) in compensation. The defendants include local private equity firm VIG Partners and Atinum Partners Co. Chairman Lee Min-joo, who had sold their stakes in Tongyang Life Insurance to Anbang in 2015.

Anbang Group acquired a combined 63.01 percent stake in Tongyang Life for 1.13 trillion won in February 2015 from sellers including VIG Partners, Yuanta Securities and Lee. In June, it received a final endorsement from the Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) as Tongyang Life’s largest shareholder. The deal was completed in September when the management of Tongyang was replaced with officials from Anbang Group.

It was VIG Partners and Yuanta Securities who first filed a suit against Anbang on May 17 this year with ICC International Court of Arbitration for delayed follow-up payment. A source from the Chinese financial industry close to Anbang Group said that the Korean sellers and Anbang had agreed on installment payments until the end of 2017, but the payment for the remaining 40 billion won has not been made yet since the Beijing-based insurance behemoth came under scrutiny by Chinese authorities for corruption and irregularities behind its massive wealth amassment in recent years and its sweeping overseas asset purchases through insurance funds.

Anbang filed a counter suit against the Korean firms for failing to warn it of risks in Tonayang Life, especially its involvement in meat loan fraud that cost the insurer about 380 billion won. An official from VIG Partners said that they properly disclosed the debt exposure of Tonyang Life during the sale process and claimed 700 billion won worth damages are outrageous even considering the risk.

By Kim Dae-gi

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