Ex-beauty queen liable in land fraud
Elsie Chan and missing ex-Macau legislator ordered to repay subsidiary of mainland bank $350m
The High Court yesterday held a missing former Macau legislator, an ex-beauty queen - his former lover - and two others liable for repayment of more than $350 million in proceeds from a land-deal fraud.
The judgment against Tommy Chio Ho-cheong, 56, Elsie Chan Yik-zee, 38, Chan's mother, Wong Shiu-wai, and Leung Hiu-ling came nearly four years after they and Mickey Wong Hing-hang were cleared of a charge of conspiracy to defraud in connection with the $515 million deal.
Mr Justice Anthony Cheung Kui-nung ruled in favour of Peconic Industrial Development - an Agricultural Bank of China subsidiary - which was seeking compensation and a declaration that the defendants were wrongfully holding the sum of $350,534,416.
The court was told that Peconic was a joint venture set up to facilitate the deal between the bank and Mr Chio and Ms Chan's company Asiagreat, which had acquired 32 adjoining agricultural lots near the Mai Po wetland reserve in the New Territories between October 1991 and January 1993.
Most of the land was fish ponds. The court heard Mr Chio - also known as Chan Kai-kit - had falsely represented to Peconic during negotiations that the purpose of the acquisition was the quick resale of the land to supposed Taiwanese buyers for a profit of $200 million. He had also claimed a $2 billion profit could be made from developing a golf course and low-rise villas, and assured Peconic planning permission could he obtained.
Peconic bought the land for $515 million, but failed to obtain planning permission, with the Town Planning Board ruling the land could only be used as fish ponds.
This had a dramatic effect on the land's value, the court heard. Peconic's expert had calculated the land's value on the open market, as of May 2004, was just $69.4 million.
In court, Peconic alleged Mr Chio had made fraudulent representations regarding the development and resale potential of the property and about the reasonableness of the $185 per sq ft paid to Asiagreat.
Peconic also said it had been unaware Asiagreat had acquired the land for an effective price of $60 per sq ft and had thus made a $364 million profit on the deal.
The judge ruled that Mr Chio and Ms Chan had dishonestly pocketed the $350.5 million.
Mr Justice Cheung reserved judgment on liability for legal costs.
The prosecution's case against the five in the criminal trial was hampered by the mystery disappearance in 2001 of a key witness, a former manager of the bank.
Ms Chan won the Miss Congeniality title in the second Miss Asia contest in 1986. She starred in several movies before becoming a businesswoman.
