HK questions exec linked to fatal trip
Print Edition
AN executive of the company that arranged a shopping trip to Hong Kong, during which a tourist from China’s mainland was assaulted and later died, is under investigation for allegedly falsifying documents, local media reported over the weekend.
According to Sing Tao Daily, the woman, 42, is accused of submitting documents to the Hong Kong Travel Industry Council stating that her employer, Tianma International (Hong Kong) Travel Co, had been contracted by Shenzhen Tourism International Co to operate the tour.
However, the Shenzhen, Guangdong Province-based agency denied any such cooperation, the report said.
While Tianma has an office in Shenzhen, it is not licensed to operate tours to Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan, it said.
To circumvent that restriction, the mainland-based unit promoted the trip using the name of a rival, licensed agency, and after securing a sufficient number of customers, passed the details on to its parent company to run the tour, the report said.
According to official records, Tianma is wholly owned by mainland-based businessman Li Xianying, who is also the legal representative of a division of Shenzhen Tourism International.
According to Hong Kong authorities, Li owns two travel agencies in the city, both of which have been accused of cheating the people for whom they organize tours, the report said.
A report by the National Business Daily newspaper claimed that the D2 Jewelry Store, which is owned by the Diamond In Love Group and outside which the tourist was beaten last week, has a similar record for duping tourists.
In 2012, an executive of the group, Chung Wai-tong, was investigated by authorities in Taiwan after three stores he owned there were found to have fabricated financial reports and cheated customers, the report said.
Tung Yiu-chung, executive director of the Hong Kong Travel Industry Council, was quoted as saying on China Central Television that Tianma will be forced to close and the D2 Jewelry Store banned from accepting tour groups from China’s mainland if the allegations regarding the fake documents are confirmed.
Meanwhile, the National Tourism Administration yesterday warned tourists against signing up for “unreasonably cheap” tours that could leave them vulnerable to dubious operators.
Miao Chunqi, 54, died after being assaulted last Monday outside the D2 Jewelry Store in Kowloon while trying to mediate in a shopping dispute. He was part of a group from the mainland that had been taken to the store as part of the itinerary.
In a report by The Beijing News, Tung was quoted as saying that some members of the group said they had traveled to Hong Kong free of charge, while others paid just 300 yuan (US$47). The three-day trip should have cost at least 1,000 yuan, he said.
Under Chinese law, “zero- or negative-fare tours,” which lure travelers with the offer of free trips, only to later coerce them into buying overpriced goods, are banned.
According to the South China Morning Post, medical examiners initially said that Miao might have died from a heart attack, but an autopsy is ongoing. Two people have been arrested in connection with the incident.
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