The loan taken on by Star Soul Investments was guaranteed by Alvin Chau, the now-detained owner of the company, and also a former chairman and director of Suncity Group.

Chau resigned after being arrested last month over alleged links to cross-border gambling, with his junket operation closing all of its VIP gambling rooms in Macau in the wake of his arrest.

($1 = 7.7989 Hong Kong dollars)

(Reporting By Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Tom Hogue)