A property investor who claims a listed developer lied to entice him to buy two flats at The Peak worth $84.3 million took his complaint to the Consumer Council, government and legislature yesterday.
Wu Chi-choi said he had paid $8.9 million in deposits between June and December for two apartments at No1 Plantation Road - a 48-unit Wharf Group development - through agents Hong Kong Property and senior executives from the Wharf Group.
He claimed Wharf director Ricky Wong Kwong-yiu had told him that four flats in the development had been sold at prices of more than $20,000 per square foot. However, Mr Wu's lawyer subsequently checked the land registry and found only two transactions - Wu's - were recorded.
'I hope the government will censure developers who release misleading information to push up prices,' Mr Wu said.
A spokeswoman for Wharf company Wheelock Properties yesterday said that in June 2005 two transactions were made and buyers reserved a further three flats in the block, though their transactions had not gone through at that stage. She admitted that in the same month, a company press release had said four flats there had been sold.
Hong Kong Property said it was investigating the case, and declined to comment.
