By AFP | Jun 27, 2010
Police probe Hong Kong luxury flat sale: report
Hong Kong police are probing the controversial sale of luxury flats that fell through months after its developer said one of them had set a world-record price, a report said Sunday.
The Sunday Morning Post, citing a Transport and Housing Bureau document, said police had joined the probe into the sale after the government launched an investigation into the deal earlier this month.
A police spokesperson could not be immediately reached for comment.Property giant Henderson Land Development reported this month that the sale of as many as 20 out of 24 units at its exclusive 39 Conduit Road towers 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 6,158-square-foot (554-square-metre) duplex that Henderson said in October had sold for 56.6 million US dollars.
Critics demanded a probe and asked why the cancellations came to light only eight months after the sales announcement, 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 world-record price was actually on the 43rd and 44th floors, according to reports.
It was so numbered because "68" sounds like "continuing fortune" in Chinese and is considered lucky. A Henderson official could not be immediately reached Sunday, but a spokeswoman told the Post the company would co-operate with any police probe.
"We are open to investigation. If they contact us, we'd be happy to provide them with the necessary information."
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