No- I wasn’t referring to the agents although I’m feeling the force of public opinion favouring this direction;-)
Mass Trial Begins over Thai-French Prostitution Ring
AFP – Tuesday, September 4
NANTES, France (AFP) – - Twenty-seven people went on trial Monday in western France accused of running a prostitution ring whose profits were laundered via a luxury property development in Thailand.
French police arrested some 40 people in 2004 after discovering a double bookkeeping system in 11 hostess bars in the western cities of Rennes and Nantes, suspected of operating as brothels.
Part of the bars’ turnover was embezzled and used to finance an eight-villa property development in Thailand.
More of the details here:
A close friend is convinced that why Singapore’s real estate scene has taken off is because of the amount of money laundering going on. Regionally- who better than Thaksin to effect a money laundering effort on such grandiose levels(he didn’t buy in Singapore though;p)?:
Report: Ousted Thai PM Thaksin buys luxury townhouse in Hong Kong
More information on the development and related caveats:
Thaksin hits Peak
Hong Kong Standard
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Thaksin Shinawatra, the ousted prime minister of Thailand, was the purchaser of the luxury townhouse on The Peak recently sold by Sun Hung Kai Properties (0016) – a property whose price tag of HK$41,000 per square foot set a record in Asia’s luxury property market, sources told The Standard.
A source close to the deal said it was billionaire Thaksin who paid an astounding HK$210 million for the 5,100 sq ft townhouse, referred to as House 1 at Severn 8, The Peak.
Two other sources also named Thaksin as the buyer, whose identity was previously unknown.
“It is obvious the seller is pushing the price to the limit,” said a source who has been in the property industry for more than 30 years.
“It would require someone who either loves the property very much or who does not care about money at all to make the call of buying it for more than HK$41,000 per square foot.”
The Severn 8 development is considered one of the biggest projects in Hong Kong in terms of size and luxury.
Thaksin’s townhouse – complete with swimming pool – does not stand on its own but is connected to other units and, therefore, was considered unlikely to fetch such a premium price.
Local media had previously reported only that the property was sold to an unnamed “businessman.”
“The price shows how good the quality of House 1 is in terms of its geographic location and how quiet the living environment is,” Midland Realty sales director Gary Yeung Wing-kin said after the deal.
Befo
re the sale, local media had speculated that the house was reserved for Martin Lee Ka-shing, co-vice chairman of Henderson Land (0012) and younger son of company chairman Lee Shau-kee, to move into after his recent HK$100 million wedding to model and actress Cathy Chui Chi-kay.
The price Thaksin paid for the property was a record for the luxury market – not just in Hong Kong, but for the whole of Asia.
The businessman-turned-politician has been spotted in Hong Kong shopping with his wife several times recently.
Thaksin has been in exile since a military coup took control of Thailand last September while he was out of the country on a diplomatic visit.
Since the coup, he has been living mostly in London.
SHKP bought the land for its 22-house project on Severn Road for HK$8,353 per square foot of developable gross floor area at a government land auction in February 2000.
Thaksin’s purchase price is the latest in a string of records for the 8 Severn Road development.
Houses 6 and 7 sold for HK$36,500 psf, or a total of HK$320 million, in November 2006 – then a record for the luxury market in Hong Kong.
That mark was surpassed by House 5 in the same development, which sold in March 2007 for HK$38,800 psf, or HK$200 million.
And the later questions of did-he-buy or did-he-not can be found here: