39 Masterpiece flats sold to 'VIPs' before public

Fresh questions are being asked about sales practices at a luxury Tsim Sha Tsui tower.

Days after being quoted as saying several of the first flats put on the market were sold to relatives of a director of the firm that co-developed it, a lawmaker said yesterday that the Urban Renewal Authority had allowed its co-developer to sell 39 flats to its business partners before public sales began.

These 'business associates and business partners', who acquired more than 11 per cent of the 345 flats in The Masterpiece, were on a 'VIP list' approved by the authority and the board of developer New World Development, Lee Wing-tat said, quoting an e-mail from the authority.

Lee, of the Democratic Party, said he had asked the authority to inquire about the 'VIP sale' after learning about it from an informant.

The 39 flats, between the 38th and 57th floors, were sold for between HK$16 million and HK$48 million before the public sale in August.

The fresh finding adds to Lee's earlier accusation that New World Development was trying to manipulate sales by selling at least seven of the first batch of flats in the public sale to managing director Henry Cheng Kar-shun's relatives.

It was reported that Cheng's son, cousin and uncle had bought the seven flats in the name of several firms, including offshore companies.