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Saturday, Feb 22, 2025
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Property agent admits HK$4.9m mortgage loan fraud
A former property agent admitted at a court that he had deceived a bank and the Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Limited into granting him a mortgage loan of about HK$4.9 million by making false representations.
The 38-year-old defendant Chiu Ka-wai pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud at the District Court on Monday.
The court heard that the defendant signed a provisional agreement for purchasing a residential property at HK$6 million in January 2016, and applied for a mortgage loan through the Mortgage Insurance Programme (MIP) with the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC).
Under the MIP, banks could provide a maximum 80 percent loan-to-value ratio to a self-occupancy residential property valued at HK$6 million and below.
The defendant declared in the relevant documents that the property was for self-occupancy and was offered the HK$4.9 million mortgage loan in March 2016.
The ICAC investigation arose from a corruption complaint. Enquiries revealed that the defendant leased the property to two tenants. He also requested one of the tenants to transfer the account of the property held with the Water Supplies Department to him to facilitate his submission of the property's water bill as supporting documents when requested by HSBC on two occasions to confirm his self-occupancy of the property.
Had HSBC, the HKMC and the HKMCI known that the information provided by the defendant was false, they would not have maintained the mortgage loan granted to him.
The judge adjourned the case to April 11 for the court to deal with the prosecution's application for a confiscation order to confiscate the illicit gains received by the defendant. The defendant was remanded in the custody of the Correctional Services Department.
The court heard that the defendant signed a provisional agreement for purchasing a residential property at HK$6 million in January 2016, and applied for a mortgage loan through the Mortgage Insurance Programme (MIP) with the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC).
Under the MIP, banks could provide a maximum 80 percent loan-to-value ratio to a self-occupancy residential property valued at HK$6 million and below.
The defendant declared in the relevant documents that the property was for self-occupancy and was offered the HK$4.9 million mortgage loan in March 2016.
The ICAC investigation arose from a corruption complaint. Enquiries revealed that the defendant leased the property to two tenants. He also requested one of the tenants to transfer the account of the property held with the Water Supplies Department to him to facilitate his submission of the property's water bill as supporting documents when requested by HSBC on two occasions to confirm his self-occupancy of the property.
Had HSBC, the HKMC and the HKMCI known that the information provided by the defendant was false, they would not have maintained the mortgage loan granted to him.
The judge adjourned the case to April 11 for the court to deal with the prosecution's application for a confiscation order to confiscate the illicit gains received by the defendant. The defendant was remanded in the custody of the Correctional Services Department.
