Police raided the offices of Henderson Land and a related law firm yesterday in a sharp escalation of the government's investigation into flat sales at the developer's 39 Conduit Road tower.
Officers from the force's commercial crime bureau seized documents concerning 20 uncompleted sales at the luxury block in Mid-Levels that led to suspicions of market manipulation, and invited representatives of the developer to assist with the investigation. But police said no one was arrested.
Police Commissioner Tang King-shing said companies and people related to the aborted sales could also be targets of the investigation. 'This is a very complicated case and many people are involved. The investigation does not only cover the companies involved but also those possibly related. We will conduct the investigation with a multi-dimensional approach,' he said.
Henderson said it welcomed the investigation. 'We will do our best to offer assistance so that the truth will be revealed,' a spokeswoman said.
The raids came a day after Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen promised legislators he would make use of the opportunity arising from the controversy to address the problem of unfairness and lack of transparency in property transactions.
Legislators, lawyers, public commentators and the Lands Department have questioned the collapse of the 20 sales - including a duplex which went on sale for a record-breaking HK$88,000 per square foot - that were among 24 deals publicised by the developer and which were credited with boosting the luxury property market.