Story first appeared in the Yahoo news.
HONG KONG - More than $5 billion was wiped off the market value of Sun Hung Kai Properties on Friday, after the billionaire owners of Asia's largest real estate developer were arrested on suspicion of corruption.
Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) arrested the owners in the agency's biggest investigation since it was set up in 1974 to root out what was seen as widespread corruption in the government and police.
The arrests on Thursday come just days after Hong Kong elected its next leader, pledging land for cheaper public housing, and as soaring property prices, the most expensive in the world, have stirred public discontent. Home prices almost doubled in the five years to end-2011.
The owners were released late on Thursday but were expected to return for more questioning, according to a source familiar with the matter. Local media reporters said the brothers were still inside a Deepwater Bay luxury compound on the south side of Hong Kong on Friday.
The owners are worth $18.3 billion, according to Forbes magazine, the second-biggest family fortune in Hong Kong after Asia's richest man, founder of rival developer Cheung Kong (Holdings) .
Shares in Sun Hung Kai slumped more than 15 percent to 15-week lows when they resumed trading on Friday. The company owns some of the former British colony's largest properties, including its tallest building, the International Commerce Centre that houses Morgan Stanley and the Ritz Carlton.
BUSINESS AS USUAL
Sun Hung Kai said the owners would continue with their duties as chairmen and managing directors, and normal business operations would not be affected.
In the past two weeks, Sun Hung Kai has also disclosed that the employee in charge of project planning and land acquisitions, had been arrested for suspected bribery, and the executive director of architectural and engineering services, had died, peacefully - meaning of the company's seven executive board members, three have been arrested, and one has died.
Details of what is behind the arrests remain unclear.
The unfolding scandal has gripped Hong Kong, the world's most densely populated city which was returned to Chinese rule by the British in 1997.
The potential conflict of interest in a senior government official living - rent-free, according to media reports - in an upscale residence owned by an influential property family has not escaped public and media attention.
FAMILY FEUD
The owners' family had a public feud in 2008 that ended with the elder being ousted as chairman. The two younger brothers, backed by their mother, claimed the elder brother was mentally unfit to run the business, claims the elder brother has denied.
That aside, the brothers who run the company's construction and engineering departments, and look after legal and financial issues - have a relatively low media profile.
Others also expressed concern about the impact on Hong Kong's reputation for corporate governance.
A loan banker in Hong Kong, who asked not to be named as his bank is a lender to Sun Hung Kai, said there was unlikely to be any significant impact on the company's business.
WALTER'S WRIT
In a writ filed in Hong Kong in 2008 as part of his bid to avoid his ouster, the eldest brother said his brothers repeatedly disagreed with his attempts to improve management at the company. He also said he tried to investigate the sale of a parcel of land in Hong Kong's New Territories at more than the asking price, and look into why construction contracts awarded by Sun Hung Kai went to a select number of contractors.
The ICAC had an 88 percent conviction rate on the 443 people it prosecuted in 2010.
Over the past four decades, Sun Hung Kai, listed in 1972, has built some of Hong Kong's most expensive property, from luxury hilltop apartment blocks and harbor-front skyscrapers to landmark office buildings.
The company's net profit has soared to HK$48 billion ($6.18 billion) in the year to last June from $10.4 billion two years earlier.
