BEIJING (BLOOMBERG) - HNA Group is seeking at least US$300 million (S$408 million) from Chinese businessman Guo Wengui for making defamatory statements tying the company to corruption and alleging it has secret ties to the family of a high-ranking Communist Party official in China.

In HNA's complaint, filed on Wednesday with the New York state Supreme Court, the company said Mr Guo's false allegations are causing harm to the group's reputation and financial standing.

An attorney representing Mr Guo, who also goes by the name Miles Kwok, declined to comment on the complaint.

The suit, part of a case that began in June, is one of several that Mr Guo is facing in the United States for making various allegations via social and traditional media of misdeeds between the rich and powerful in China.

Mr Guo, who has been a controversial figure for years, lives in exile in the US now, after fleeing China three years ago. Chinese authorities issued a request to Interpol for Mr Guo's arrest in April.

HNA has repeatedly denied Mr Guo's claims.