Malacca Developer Allegedly Fails To Complete Projects After 8 Years, S’porean Buyers Among Those Affected
Buyers gathered outside a mall in Malacca to protest against Hatten Group.
By Jonathan Yee - 19 Mar 2023, 6:05 pm
After paying for properties in Malacca, a Malaysian state, owners have been left wondering what happened to them as they aren’t complete, years after they put down payments for them.
The projects are under Hatten Group, which although based in Malaysia, is owned by Singaporeans.
Hatten Group accused of scamming over 2,000 buyers in Malacca
Francis Ng, who owns House of Seafood, is among those who invested in the project. He told MS News that he’d spent over RM500,000 (~S$150,000) buying a property in 2015, but to date, it hasn’t been finished.There are allegedly over 2,000 victims across the 10+ projects that Hatten Group started, but seemingly never finished.
After the victims got together via group chat, they decided to stage a demonstration outside ElementX, a shopping mall in Malacca, on Saturday (18 Mar).
According to Mr Ng, many Singaporeans and Malaysians have been affected by these unfinished developments.
Buyers have been told that the developments will continue to be built, but so far, these have not materialised.
Hatten Group responds
Although the developments are in Malacca, Hatten Group is based in Singapore and was started by two brothers, Colin and Edwin Tan.They have been publicly listed on the Singapore Exchange since 2017.
Hatten Group responded on Facebook acknowledging the demonstration. Representatives had apparently been at ElementX talking to some of the protesters.
We kindly request that our esteemed purchasers exercise caution when posting negative feedback about our projects,” the statement read.
It also warned that negative posts “may impede our [the group’s] efforts to revive our [the group’s] projects and their success”, and advised purchasers to await their progress reports.
Police reports made
Even before the protest, several buyers had already filed police reports against Hatten Group.A police report made by a Singaporean and seen by MS News details how they were promised that “a public listed company will not run away”. So they put down a downpayment of RM59,970 (~S$17,900), RM12,466 (~S$3,700) security deposit, and an in-house loan of RM374,000 (~S$103,000) with 0% interest.
However, in 2020, the Harbour City project was reportedly suspended pending a third-party acquisition with Tayrona, a Singapore-based firm.
The one who made the police report said there have been no updates on the Tayrona deal. A separate swap deal that was offered has also seen no progress since.
“We do not know if the project will really be completed and our hard-earned money will [ever] be returned to us, as Hatten is a listed company and they have. . . lawyers to turn things to their favour.”
Mr Ng also told MS News he believes that he and others have been “scammed” as each Hatten Group project has faced similar difficulties.
Despite promises that the projects will be built, Mr Ng thinks they were merely delaying tactics and doesn’t hold out hope that they will fulfil their promises.
https://mustsharenews.com/malacca-real-estate-group-hatten/
