Ho filed the writ against Ming Pao in the High Court Thursday.

According to the writ, made available Friday, Ming Pao "gravely injured" the reputation of Seng Heng Bank by running a full-page advert on August 14 with the North Korea allegations and a photo of Ho beside the words "seven years of lies" in Chinese.

Seng Heng is seeking libel damages and an injunction against Ming Pao, as well as the costs of the legal action.

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The writ claims that since Ming Pao "published, or caused to be published," the advertisement, it was liable for blame, and that it would continue to print the defamatory statements "unless restrained."

Ho is no stranger to legal controversies. He is in the midst of a protracted court battle against his estranged sister Winnie Ho Yuen-ki who is being represented by legislator and solicitor Albert Ho Chun-yan.

It is this connection that gave rise to allegations Stanley Ho could have been involved in the baseball bat- wielding attack on Albert Ho last Sunday.

Legal representatives for Ming Pao Holdings, the lead defendant in the writ, could not be reached for comment Friday, but the company reportedly refused to disclose the identity of the advertiser to Ho.

The full-page August 14 advert in Ming Pao included a lengthy translation of a September 8, 2005, article in The Wall Street Journal that linked Stanley Ho to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

JONATHAN CHENG