Hong Kong hotel guests thrown out into the streets over unpaid loan
HONG KONG - DOZENS of bewildered tourists were kicked out of a Hong Kong hotel after it was taken over by a city bank due to an unpaid loan.
The visitors from Taiwan, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Denmark, Italy, Argentina and China were ordered to leave the Tatami Hampton Hotel after Bank of East Asia (BEA) took possession of the property, according to the South China Morning Post.
'How could something like this happen in Hong Kong?' a woman from mainland China who identified herself as Ms Li was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
Ms Li learned of the problem when she arrived in Hong Kong on Wednesday evening with her three teenage daughters and was told she could not stay in the hotel, located in the city's Mong Kok area, the report said.
The move comes after a prolonged battle between BEA and Labour Buildings, the company that runs the hotel, over an unpaid 80 million Hong Kong dollar (S$14 million) loan.
The company, a former investment arm of Taiwan's Kuomintang political party, said it was granted the loan to curry favour with the ruling party 10 years ago, according to the newspaper.
A notice posted in the hotel lobby said it had been taken over by lawyers representing the bank and the bailiff pursuing a court order, the report said.
TV images showed the hotel doors bolted shut.
A BEA spokeswoman told AFP they had no immediate comment.
Hong Kong spends millions of dollars every year trying to attract tourists from the mainland and across the world.
However, the city was hit by a string of tourism scandals last year, when visitors on cheap package deals, often from mainland China, were forced to visit certain stores and encouraged to buy goods before being allowed to leave. -- AFP
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Hong Kong hotel guests thrown out into the streets over unpaid loan 
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