THE affairs of some companies linked to Sunshine Empire have come under the spotlight again, this time in Taiwan.

An 'affiliated company' of Sunshine Empire, Empire Communications Technology (Emcom), has claimed on its website that it plans to invest more than $20million in a broadband project there.

The company, whose registered office is at the Toa Payoh Hub, has 'invested heavily into Taiwan' to build 'a seamless wireless broadband that will cover more than 95 per cent of the city of Taichung'.

It claimed that the project will be completed by the end of this year.

However, a check with the Information Management Section of the Department of Planning of the Taichung City Government showed no evidence of this.

TAIWAN: No $20 million broadband project.

Ms Huang Hui-Ming, chief of the section, told The New Paper on Sunday that Emcom does not have any partnership with the Taichung City government.

She said the company had never contacted its department regarding the broadband project.

Ms Huang noted that while it is true that the city's government plans to build a wireless Internet network, it is part of a project proposed by the Industrial Development Bureau of Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs.

And this government-initiated project is being handled by Asia Pacific Telecom Group (APTG).

Ms Huang said: 'After contacting APTG about Emcom, we understand that EmCom is not involved in the government-funded M-Taichung project.

'As for other plans, such as Emcom's wireless network construction in Taichung, we at the city government cannot confirm its authenticity.'

On Sunshine Empire's website, EmCom is listed as an affiliate company.

The Taiwanese official's comment comes in the wake of a Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) probe into the affairs of Sunshine Empire.

Earlier, Sunshine Empire made news when the Monetary Authority of Singapore placed the company on its investor alert list in September.

Malaysia's Securities Commission also put Sunshine Empire on its investor alert list a few months ago.

While it maintains that it is not an investment company, some of its potential members have said that they were told that they could get returns of up to $96,000 in eight years if they put $12,000 into the company.

They claimed they were also shown various business 'projects' that a company, Empire Property Venture, is supposedly involved in, including a Malacca Empire Marine Theme Park and A Magic Kingdom theme park inSabah.

Empire Property Venture is listed as an affiliate of Sunshine Empire on the latter's website. But in an e-mail response to The New Paper on Sunday, Sunshine Empire's Asia Pacific president Jackie Hoo Choon Cheat said the two companies are 'legally unrelated'.

MALACCA: No approval for project.

The CAD is now asking Sunshine Empire members to wait for further updates from the authorities and hope they can come forward to help in the investigation.

The authorities in Malacca and Sabah had earlier told The New Paper on Sunday that they have no information on the existence of these projects.

'NO PROPOSALS'

When contacted, the Mayor of the Malacca City Council, Datuk Zaini Md Nor, said that to date, they had not received any proposals for such a theme park there.

He added that he had received an application in August for the approval of a plan by Empire Property Venture to build a commercial and residential building of 510 units on 0.87 ha of land (slightly larger than a football field). But this project has not been approved.

The mayor added: 'If any developer begins building without approval from the City Council, we will put a stop toit. It is illegal to build without approval.'

This, however, has not stopped Empire Property Venture from supposedly marketing this development, as well as Empire Theme Park Service Suites and Empire Marina Villas, which are part of the Malacca Empire Marine Theme Park.

According to Empire Property Venture's website, the construction of the theme park and the Sunshine Villa project in Malacca was expected to begin about two months after the ground-breaking event on 9 Sep.

Each project has its own link to its price list and booking status.

That's not all - the company has also put up the Sunshine Villa project's blueprint on its website, indicating that 317 of the project's 510 units have even been sold.

The price of these units ranges from RM100,000 ($43,000) to RM300,000.

KL CITY HALL: No empire state tower.

When contacted, a receptionist at the Sunshine Empire office in Toa Payoh Hub said the properties were available to the public.

However a receptionist who answered a call made to the Malaysian office of the Empire Property Venture International said the units of all the properties were only available to Sunshine merchants or members.

She said interested buyers had to go to the Sunshine Empire office in Singapore to sign up as a member before getting access to their merchant website to make the purchase of the properties online.

She also said that more than 300units of Sunshine Villa have been sold, with the sea view units fully booked.

When asked if there were any show flats available for viewing, the woman said there were none, but brochures were available online.

She also said there were units available for a higher-end project in Kuala Lumpur called the Empire State Tower.

The brochure on the company's website describes this development to be 'the most prestigious residential address right in the heart of the Golden Triangle Business District of Kuala Lumpur'.

This project which is supposed to be built on Jalan Tun Razak, purportedly has 290 units available for sale, with 147 units shown as 'sold' on the online price list.

However, a check with the City Hall of Kuala Lumpur revealed that no such project is in the works at present.

A spokesman said: 'City Hall Kuala Lumpur has not received any application for a property to be developed at Jalan Tun Razak called the Empire State Tower.'

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