The husband and wife founders of collapsed furniture and electrical goods chain DSC have been arrested by Hong Kong police after they returned from a trip to Macau.
Hui Ming-shun, 61, and his wife Lin Wai-yin, 55, spent Monday night in police cells after they were arrested and charged with conspiracy to defraud, according to a report in the South China Morning Post newspaper.
Police were waiting for the couple when they arrived at the Sheung Wan ferry terminal from Asia’s gaming capital around lunchtime.
Police said they were acting on reports from DSC suppliers that goods received had not been paid for. As reported by Inside Retail Hong Kong yesterday (LINK TO STORY) staff are owed at least $10 million in unpaid wages.
According to the SCMP, the couple left Hong Kong the day before their 14-store strong chain was closed, leaving 900 workers jobless, suppliers owed millions and customers having paid deposits for goods not delivered.
The Consumer Council has already received complaints from nearly 500 individuals claiming they have not received goods prepaid for.
Both Hui and DSC are also subject of civil lawsuits relating to unpaid rent and stock, with those claims estimated to top $10 million also.
Meanwhile, Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Matthew Cheung Kin-chung says the government will do what it can to expedite the process so affected staff can receive an ex-gratia payment from the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund.
“We also explained the necessary legal procedures to follow, but we will certainly do the best we can to expedite the process,” he said in an interview.
“The proprietor currently is under Police custody, but we have touched base with the lawyers to make sure that he would sign the inability to pay wages form (the Statement of Inability to Pay) to enable us to take the matter forward. Once he has signed the form, and also once he has recognised the outstanding amount owed to individual employees, we will then refer the employees concerned to the Legal Aid Department to secure legal aid and also to trigger the process of seeking a petition to wind up the company in a compulsory fashion,” he said.
“So all these will be in train very shortly, but much depends on when Mr Hui (the proprietor) sends back the signed form, confirming his inability to pay. We will make sure that the whole thing is done quickly and in the interest of the employees concerned.”
