7 hours ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong wedding firm boss arrested as closure leaves couples in lurch
Customs officers have arrested the owner of a Hong Kong wedding decoration company that closed suddenly leaving more than 100 engaged couples in dismay, with the firm revealed to have racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in debts.
Acting assistant superintendent Ho Wai-sum of customs' unfair trade practice investigation division said officers arrested the 40-year-old male owner of a wedding decoration company based in San Po Kong on Friday after receiving 166 complaints about the firm allegedly wrongly accepting payments.
'We suspect that when the owner received prepaid sums, there were no reasonable reasons to believe the company could provide the services promised,' he said.
Last month, the suspected closure of Ps Wedding and Event Decoration, which had an office in San Po Kong, sparked 31 complaints to the Consumer Council involving more than HK$337,000 (US$43,200) in losses.
Ho revealed that the 166 complaints made to customs involved HK$1.9 million in total, with each contract for between HK$3,000 and HK$40,000.
The acting superintendent said preliminary investigations showed that the company, which had been operating for 13 years, owed money for rent and salaries before its abrupt closure.
