ST : Police probe cancelled sales of HK luxury flats

Jun 28, 2010

Police probe cancelled sales of HK luxury flats

HONG KONG: Police are probing the cancelled purchases of some luxury flats months after its developer said one of the units had been sold at a world-record price, a report said yesterday.

The Sunday Morning Post, citing a Transport and Housing Bureau document, said police had joined the probe into the sales after the government launched an investigation into the deals earlier this month.

Property giant Henderson Land Development reported this month that the sale of as many as 20 out of 24 units of its exclusive 39 Conduit Road tower in the city's Mid-Levels residential area had been cancelled.

The scrapped deals included what was supposed to be the world's most expensive apartment, a 554 sq m duplex that Henderson claimed sold for US$56.6 million (S$78.7 million) last October.

Critics demanded a probe, and asked why the cancellations came to light only eight months after the announcement of the sales, which helped hike prices for luxury residential flats in Hong Kong and stoked concerns about a property bubble.

Henderson has also been condemned for selectively numbering the floors on the 46-storey building as a ploy to attract Chinese buyers.

The supposed 68th-floor duplex that snatched a world- record price was actually on the 43rd and 44th floors, according to reports. It was so numbered because the number 68 sounds like 'continuing fortune' in Chinese, and is considered lucky.

A Henderson official could not be immediately reached yesterday, but a spokesman told the Post that the company would cooperate with any police probe.

'We are open to investigation. If they contact us, we'd be happy to provide them with the necessary information,' said the spokesman.

Lawmaker Ronny Tong from the opposition Civic Party said the police would look into possible fraud, but he added that the buyers could be speculators who decided to pull out of the sales fearing they could not make a profit.

Henderson reported two weeks ago that the deals had fallen through. It claimed to have made a loss of HK$734 million (S$131 million) on the unsold flats, which it said would be written off in its next financial statement.

The company has until tomorrow to give information to the HK Lands Department on the cancelled sales.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE