Dessert shop scam: Hong Kong and mainland Chinese investors allegedly cheated of more than HK$10 million
Company claiming to be sole agent of local chain The Dessert Kitchen collected capital to open mainland shops, which closed down months later
A group of investors from Hong Kong and the mainland were allegedly cheated of more than HK$10 million in a suspected cross-border scam, a Hong Kong legislator said on Wednesday.
According to Democratic Party lawmaker James To Kun-sun, a company in mainland China claiming to be the sole agent of Hong Kong chain The Dessert Kitchen began in 2014 to invite investors to become shareholders to open franchised dessert shops across the border.
Those interested were then persuaded to hand over large sums of money, 1.4 million yuan (HK$1.65 million) in one case, as start-up capital for the shops, which closed down after just months of operation.
The affected investors claimed they were misled by company representatives into signing contracts that gave them no control over the management of the shops, which they later found out to have issues such as being poorly run, not having operating permits, and failing to pay rent or wages.
The investors raised the issues with the representatives, but were soon unable to contact them, as well as being unable to recover the money they had put into the shops.
