PEOPLE who buy property overseas should be provided with the same level of protection they receive in Hong Kong, according to Democratic Party legislator Dr Huang Chen-ya. Dr Huang has suggested local money invested in foreign property developments be placed in a special trust account which would be administered by Hong Kong lawyers. The money in these accounts would only be released to overseas developers 'bit by bit', once they had shown that the property development project was being built, he said. 'There is no such accountability for projects which are now being built outside Hong Kong,' Dr Huang said. 'It is about time these developers were held accountable to the same rules which apply in Hong Kong,' he said. Estate agents said that in many instances, mainland developers took deposits from Hong Kong investors and spent the money on unrelated projects. The call for greater accountability on the part of overseas developers comes on the heels of the recent collapse of CF and Associates, which was reportedly acting for a number of mainland developers whose projects were never completed. Now, more than 100 Hong Kong investors may be out of as much as $70 million in deposits and are demanding immediate action be taken against the company, which took deposits on developments in Danshui and Aotau cities near Shenzhen. Both Dr Huang and estate agents said there may be many more such cases. According to Dr Huang, other disappointed investors may have received some compensation for projects which were never completed, either in the form of cash or some other inducement to keep quiet. He expects reports of a growing number of bad projects in months to come. 'The number of complaints does not reveal the true picture,' he said.