【英语中国】香港恒基地产豪宅销售交易撤销事件遭警方调查

Police here raided the headquarters of Henderson Land Development Co., seizing documents and questioning individuals in relation to a number of canceled sales at one of the blue-chip company's luxury apartment buildings.

Commissioner for Police Tang King-shing told reporters that no arrests were made in its operation, though it had 'invited a number of people back to the Commercial Crime Bureau to assist us in our investigation.' Police declined to provide more details about the inquiry.

Wednesday's police raid follows an announcement by the Hong Kong government last month that its regulatory and law-enforcement agencies were investigating the cancellation of home sales at Henderson Land's 39 Conduit Road development in the high-end Mid-Levels neighborhood. The company said in June that 20 out of 24 apartment sales at the development had been canceled by the buyers.

The government announcement followed public concern about the cancellations. Legislators questioned whether the original transactions were authentic.

Mr. Tang said police had executed a number of search warrants at various locations during Wednesday's operations.

Henderson Land confirmed in a statement that the police were at its headquarters on Wednesday. The company said it will fully cooperate with the police investigation.

Henderson Land and its chairman, tycoon Lee Shau-kee, have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in relation to the canceled sales, saying the transactions were legitimate.

The sales had drawn intense public and media interest because Henderson Land said in October it had sold a 6,158-square-foot duplex in the development at a record per-square-foot price of US$9,200. That unit was among the 20 canceled sales. Some analysts said the announcements of the sales helped push up prices in the broader property market. Mass-market apartment prices in Hong Kong soared about 30% last year.

The company said earlier it would take a charge of 734 million Hong Kong dollars (US$94.5 million) against its first-half earnings because of the cancellations.

Following the controversy, the government began requiring property developers to make transaction information available to the public five days after the signing of an initial sales contract. The government also introduced other guidelines and requirements on home sales that it believes will boost transparency and better protect consumer rights.

香港警方搜查了香港恒基兆业地产有限公司(Henderson Land Development Co.，简称：恒基地产)总部，带走了与该公司一个豪华住宅区大量销售交易撤销事件相关的文件，并质询了相关人员。

香港警务处处长邓竟成(Tang King Shing)向记者表示，尽管警方邀请了多位人士回商业罪案调查科协助调查，但本次行动中未拘捕任何人。警方拒绝提供更多的质询细节。

在周三警方搜查之前，香港政府上个月宣布其监管和执法部门正在调查恒基地产开发的位于干德道39号的高档半山区住宅销售撤单事件。今年6月，恒基地产说已售的24套单元中，有20套已被买家撤消。

撤单事件引起了公众的关注。之后，政府发表了上述声明。立法者质疑原始交易是否真实。

邓竟成说，警方在周三的行动中搜查了多处地点。

恒基地产在声明中证实警方周三出现在公司总部，并说将全力协助警方调查。

恒基地产及其董事长──大亨李兆基一再否认做过与撤单相关的不当行为，并称这些交易合法。

恒基地产去年10月说，该小区售出一套6,158平方英尺的复式公寓，每平方英尺售价达到破纪录的9,200美元，因此，这一小区的销售情况引起民众及媒体的极大兴趣。这套住宅也位列被撤单的20套住宅之中。一些分析师说恒基地产宣布的售价帮助推高了房地产市场的售价。去年，香港大众市场房价飙升30%左右。

恒基地产之前表示，受撤单影响，公司上半年收益将减记7.34亿港元（合9,450万美元）。

在这一事件发生后，香港政府开始要求房地产开发商在签订初步销售合同的五天后公开交易信息。政府还颁布了其它住宅销售的指导原则和要求，并相信这些原则和要求将提升透明度并能更好地保护消费者的权益。