XN000022-1996-04-24 — Page 69

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Measures to prevent property fraud

Following is a question by the Hon Fred Li Wah-ming and a written reply by the Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands, Mr Bowen Leung, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Question:

The Police has recently revealed that there has been a significant rise in the number of fraud cases involving the selling of properties by culprits claiming to be property owners. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)

whether any loopholes have been identified in-

(i)

the existing legislation governing the assignment of properties,

(ii)

the legal procedures relating to property transactions,

(iii)

(b)

(c)

the procedures for obtaining and altering particulars on property ownership (such as the registration of business and property ownership) filed with the Government which culprits can take advantage of;

whether it will conduct an overall review on the procedures governing the assignment of property and draw up a code of practice to prevent the occurrence of such cases; if not, why not, and

whether there are any specific measures to combat such crime so as to safeguard the rights of property owners?

Answer:

Mr President,

(a)

Since early 1996, the Police (Commercial Crime Bureau) have identified 14 property transaction cases involving impersonation of the owner of a property. In some cases, a fake owner accepted a deposit from purchasers but did not complete the property transaction because he was unable to produce the original title deeds. In other cases, the fake owner was paid the whole of the purchase price before the purchaser discovered that the assignment was not made by the genuine owner. All the incidents happened before any documents were registered with the Land Registry.