Property salesman found dead in car
High-profile property sales manager Peter Yam Kin-wah was found dead in his luxury car yesterday, apparently from suicide.
A stove with burning charcoal was on the front seat of the BMW sedan, parked in Repulse Bay, when the body of Yam, 49, sales manager of listed developer Chinese Estates Holdings, was found at 6.30am.
Police said preliminary investigations indicated he had financial problems. There were 'no suspicious circumstances' and the case has been classified as suicide.
Yam was in charge of the sales campaign for York Place, a middle-class residential project in Wan Chai, and last appeared in public at the launch of a show flat in the development on Thursday last week.
Chinese Estates Holdings cancelled a press conference scheduled for 3.30pm yesterday because of his death, which was discovered when a passer-by spotted his slumped body and called police.
Firefighters broke the car's window to unlock the door. Yam was pronounced dead by paramedics. Two bags of unburned charcoal were found in the vehicle.
A police source said Yam's wife learned of the death when she called his mobile phone and an officer answered. She arrived at the scene at about 9am.
She burst into tears as the body was being put into a bag and carried to a van at about 10am.
Market sources said that although Yam only held a middle-management position, he played a key role in the company, reporting directly to executive director Lau Ming-wai, son of chairman and chief executive officer Joseph Lau Luen-hung.
Before joining Chinese Estates, Yam worked in the sales teams of Kowloon Development and Cheung Kong (Holdings).
Yam, who lived with his family in Pokfield Garden in Pokfield Road, Kennedy Town, celebrated his birthday last month.
Lau Ming-wai would take over responsibility for York Place sales, a spokesman for Chinese Estates said yesterday.
