In recent years, many Hong Kong residents have chosen to emigrate to the UK, with Manchester being one of the popular destinations for settling and property investment. However, a real estate company run by Hong Kong residents in the UK is suspected of “cheating Hong Kong people out of their money.” Apart from embezzling rental income meant for property owners, they are also allegedly involved in subletting, using the units for growing cannabis, causing great distress to many victims who find themselves in a helpless situation.
Victims have set up a group called the “Victims Alliance” on social media platforms, with over two thousand victims joining the group. Reports suggest that the amount involved in the scandal exceeds tens of millions. Many victims have expressed frustration online, stating that their properties had been managed by a Manchester-based agency, “Chuang Cheng Real Estate,” but they stopped receiving rent since March, and their attempts to reach out via phone calls and WhatsApp have been in vain.
Another issue is that the rental payments made by the tenants to Chuang Cheng were not passed on to the property owners starting from 2024. The person in charge claimed that internal employees had embezzled the funds and the owners were asked to wait indefinitely. Ms. Zhang later filed a report at a police station in Manchester but has yet to recover all the outstanding rent. She mentioned that there are around 60 to 100 victims who were tricked and suffered losses by Chuang Cheng through various schemes.
Another victim, Josie, shared her story on the YouTube channel “Andy’s Workshop.” Josie, a teacher, learned about a Hong Kong agency and Chuang Cheng Real Estate advertising property sales in Hong Kong about three to four years ago, under the banner of “Hong Kong people helping Hong Kong people.” After going through the agency, lawyers, and property inspections arranged by the real estate company, she still hasn’t had the property deeds transferred to her name after nearly four years, despite investing millions. She has been pursuing answers, but delays have been attributed to the inefficiency of the British system and the pandemic.
Similar to Ms. Zhang, Josie also faced instances where she did not receive rental income from two of her seven properties for almost two years. The tenant claims to have paid rent regularly, even offering to provide video evidence, but Chuang Cheng collected rent in cash and kept telling the property owners that the tenant had not paid. Josie has since transferred the management of her seven properties to another real estate company.
More worrisome, Josie pointed out that Chuang Cheng rented out units to unknown tenants without the owners’ consent, leading to some victims discovering that the units were being used for growing cannabis, revealing a connection between the real estate company and a cannabis cultivation business under the same owner.
Some victims have personally traveled to Manchester to visit the real estate company’s office but found it deserted, and they have been unable to reach the responsible individuals. The company recently sent out an email announcing a temporary shutdown due to financial difficulties. Josie noticed that the company seemed to be setting up new operations elsewhere, and she urged them to contact the victims and transfer ownership promptly. She hopes that the company takes responsibility and resolves the issue instead of deceiving Hong Kong people repeatedly under the guise of “Hong Kong people helping Hong Kong people,” causing them to drop their guard.
The embroiled real estate company led by Hong Kong residents in the UK is called “UK Chuang Cheng Real Estate.” According to their official website, the company was established in 2012 by three Hong Kong residents and has been rooted in Manchester for over a decade, providing comprehensive services such as investment, sales, long-term leasing, short-term leasing, property viewing, inspection, renovation, maintenance, and tax asset management, claiming to manage assets worth over HK$1 billion.
Checking the UK government’s website, the company’s two principals are Chan Kai Lun (41 years old) and Yip Him Shun (38 years old). The former is known as “Chan Kai Lun” in Chinese, and the latter as “Yip Him Shun.” The real estate company has occasionally given interviews to the media and collaborated with some prominent Hong Kong expatriates in the UK to offer information on buying properties in the UK.
Currently, around 60 victims have engaged local lawyers in the UK to file lawsuits, with initial estimates suggesting the scandal involves over a billion Hong Kong dollars. Many victims have reported the case to local authorities in the UK, but they claim that the British police are reluctant to intervene or offer assistance, urging the victims to seek mediation and only initiated an investigation about two months ago. This publication attempted to contact the company’s principals, but as of the deadline, there was no success in reaching them, and their official website was also unavailable; the reporters also emailed the Manchester police to inquire about the progress of the investigation, but no response was received by the deadline.