A new chapter in the Ralan saga is being played out this weekend as the receivers Deloitte plays it tough and puts purchasers apartments on the market at Arncliffe. Even where buyers have agreed to accept the Deloitte proposal to honour up to 10% of their deposit, many were not offered new contacts and may see their apartments up for sale. This is in a context where the Ralan sales team had persuaded many to make deposits up to 50% or more under what one class action lawyer has described as William O'Dwyer's 'ponzi scheme' attracting a 15% interest.
The ongoing fallout from RALAN Group, one of the largest property developers in Australia going into voluntary administration with $500 million dollars of debt in August 2019 has left over a thousand hard working Chinese families who purchased off the plan apartments in Sydney and in the Gold Coast with life changing losses.
Since January 2020, purchasers have been trying to negotiate a reasonable bulk purchase price with Deloitte using current market comparisons and the knowledge and expertise of a building industry expert. Deloitte has shown little to no interest. Wingate who employs Deloitte and who would clearly benefit from a quick sale of most of these apartments at a reasonable market price has not yet acted strongly to bring this situation to a resolution. This is despite class action lawyers gathering evidence, questions being asked in parliament and ASIC undertaking investigation. Now these families who feel left out in the cold, are taking to the streets.
This Saturday June 27 at 1.00 pm Chinese families will protest against having their apartments sold in this way. They will protest on site at 213 Princes Highway, Arncliffe hoping their action will also discourage any potential buyers.
