Twenty Macau buyers involved in mainland property scam

Lawmaker Leong Sun Iok attended the press conference

A group of 20 local residents held a press conference on Saturday morning seeking help from lawmakers over an alleged real estate scam they say they are victim to, TDM reported.

The homebuyers say they were lured into investing in a real estate project development known as the “GBH development” in Jiangmen prefecture in Guangdong province in between 2015 and 2017.

According to the contract, they should have seen the project reaching the conclusion stage in 2018 but the residents say that the developer kept giving excuses to stall the residents on fake promises.

Although there were only 20 buyers present at the press conference, a representative of the alleged victims said that the number of buyers is 755, of which around half are from Macau.

The group claims that a total of over RMB20 million is involved, investment that they made through real estate agencies located in the nearby cities of Zhuhai and Jiangmen.

One of the victims told TDM that a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the site, counting the attendance several high profile officials from both Macau and Jiangmen.

The press conference was held with the support of lawmakers that represent the Workers Association in Macau.

According to Leong Sun Iok, the local government should pay attention to these cases as in the upcoming years it is likely that more residents will be interested in buying property in the neighboring cities in the mainland due to the Greater Bay Area Initiative. He suggested the government establish a system that offers investors guarantees in cases like this.  RM