Other Overseas Purchases Gone Bad

Source : The Straits Times, Saturday, October 13, 2007

IN 2002, 1,000 Singaporeans who paid up to $3,800 each to join Indonesian country club PT Magic Kingdom Island Resort Paradise were left stranded when the club went bankrupt. Despite collecting about $2 million, the club never started the resort project. In 2001, about 90 Singaporeans paid $16,000 for units in the Villa Temasek development in Bintan, but the developer disappeared before work was completed.

In 1996, more than 40 buyers in Singapore and Malaysia lost between US$54,000 and US$98,000 when an 816-unit condominium project in Bangalore, marketed by Singapore-based company Chesterfield International, was aborted. Chesterfield’s directors cannot be traced and not a cent has been recovered. In 1996, 18 Singaporeans shelled out between $30,000 and $70,000 each for houses built by Dragon Land in Qingdao, in China’s Shandong province. They turned out to be poorly constructed, with no amenities.

In 1995, some 37 investors paid between RM150,000 and RM400,000 for apartments at the 199-unit Anjung Seri Condominium in Johor Baru. The project was never completed.