HOPEFUL emigrants who left money and family documents with a migration consultant company have discovered the company office deserted. Representatives of more than 10 families gathered outside the abandoned offices of Standard Authorised (South Africa) Consultants in Star House before heading to Tsim Sha Tsui police station yesterday afternoon. The families discovered on Monday the offices had been closed and dismantled at the weekend. Vincent Chik Wai-yip, who had signed on with the consultants to help him and his nine-member family emigrate to South Africa, had grave doubts that he would get back the $80,000 he had paid. ''I spoke to them [company staff] by telephone on Friday afternoon. Then I called them on Monday morning but was worried when the phone just kept ringing, so I went to their office only to find it abandoned. ''I went to the police that afternoon but they told me they could do nothing until I rounded up more families who had paid money to the company. We've done that and now we're going directly to the Commercial Crime Bureau.'' Another family representative, Steven Chau Lai-ming, said he had lost his money and the original travel and family documents he gave to the company to process his application. ''There was nothing to say the company had gone bankrupt. No newspaper notices, no warnings. We've tried to contact the company in South Africa, but without success. We've spoken to the [South African] Consulate but they say there is little they can do.'' The South African Consulate-General last night issued a formal statement saying it was not, and would not become, involved in relationships between immigration consultant companies and their clients. Mr Chik said he and his family would wait in the hope that their application had been processed before the company deserted Hong Kong. ''What else can we do? We've already spoken to the only people who can help us. All we can do is wait and pray either our application is approved or at least we get our money back. At this stage neither outcome looks likely.''
