LOS ANGELES: Actor Bruce Willis sued Malaysia's Petra Group and its chairman, Tunku Imran ibni Tuanku Ja'afar, saying US$900,000 (S$1.3 million) of the US$2 million he invested in a 'green rubber' venture was not returned to him.

Petra's chief executive officer, Datuk Vinod B. Sekhar, and Tunku Imran, a scion of the Negri Sembilan royal household, induced Willis last year to invest in a company that was developing a non-toxic and recyclable rubber, the actor said in a complaint filed yesterday in a federal court in Los Angeles.

Willis, the star of the 1988 action film Die Hard, accused Petra and its executives of breach of contract and unjust enrichment.

The actor was told that former US vice-president Al Gore and actor Mel Gibson also had invested in the company, Elastomer Technologies, according to the complaint.

Willis had a put option whereby, for a specified period of time, he could get a full refund of his investment, according to the complaint. He said he exercised the option on March 17.

'Despite defendants' obligation to immediately refund Willis' investment, in April 2008, defendants continued to provide different specious excuses for the retaining of Willis' funds,' the actor said in the complaint.

Mr Andrew Murray-Watson, a spokesman for Kuala Lumpur-based Petra, said Willis is due to be repaid the remaining US$900,000 in the next couple of weeks.

'We're very surprised Mr Willis is taking this action,' Mr Murray-Watson said in a phone interview.

The actor's lawyer Martin Singer did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

BLOOMBERG