Pōkeno Piranha property developer must pay out over $5m to jilted backers stuff.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from stuff.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Auckland woman serving home detention in $10m mansion for fraud Sat, 3 Jul 2021, 12:42PM
Annie Chen was sentenced to nine months home detention for defrauding $600,000 from property investors. (Photo / Supplied)
Auckland woman serving home detention in $10m mansion for fraud Sat, 3 Jul 2021, 12:42PM
A woman convicted of fraud is serving home detention in a luxury $10 million Remuera mansion owned by a Singapore-based businessman linked to Jack Ma s behemoth Alibaba e-commerce website.
The businessman, Yifei Sheng, bought the sprawling property and neighbouring tennis court in September last year for $10.25m without ever stepping foot inside.
Sheng, who intends to bowl the 440sq m four-bedroom house, has spent at least $22m buying Auckland properties in the past three years.
The fraud case that s halted monster $1bn Pokeno property development stuff.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from stuff.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A huge subdivision at Pokeno has been beset by a feud over illegal commission payments.
A planned ‘monster’ development in a sleepy Waikato town has faltered with a civil trial due to follow a criminal trial after a major stoush between investors. National Correspondent Steve Kilgallon reports. Eight years ago, Pokeno had just 600 inhabitants. But things are changing rapidly in the small Waikato town, once known for its bacon, its giant ice-cream scoops and the gas station where Kelly Johnson fuelled up his Mini for free in Goodbye Pork Pie. Just 53km from downtown Auckland, huge new estates have swollen the population, and with more re-zoning on the horizon, real estate agent Eric Chase saw a prime opportunity to cash in if he could persuade local landowners to sell up their land simultaneously.