Following a report by the website Gutzy on July 24 and an AP News story on July 17 that Ching Chiat Kwong, chairman of Oxley Holdings 5UX , paid EUR73,000 to the accounts of councillor Renato Boraso, who is now in jail, for the purchase of Palazzo Papadopoli, a municipal property. The Edge Singapore subsequently reached out to Ching. As a result, Oxley issued a clarification on July 24 and 25 via SGXnet, explaining what actually transpired in Italy.
The source of the Gutzy and AP News reports are ANSA. According to AP News, the mayor of Venice “is under investigation in a corruption scandal that has landed his top public works official in jail for an alleged system of kickbacks in return for granting favours to developers, Italian media reported on July 16,” AP News says.
AP News quotes ANSA, which reported that “Mayor Luigi Brugnaro along with two aides are under investigation for allegedly agreeing to ensure approvals for a 348,000 sq m (3.7 million sq ft) residential and commercial project by a Singapore developer in exchange for EUR150 million”.
Two different properties are referred to in these reports. The Gutzy report refers to Palazzo Papadopoli, and AP News refers to a 358,000 sq m site. Halfway through the Gutzy report, a reference is made to the “Pili land deal”. There is also reference to Luis Lotti.
First Palazzo Papadopoli. This property is owned by Ching in his personal capacity. “I bought Palazzo Papadopoli in a public tender where I bid EUR10.8 million for the property,” he says. “EUR10.8 million wasn’t exactly cheap as I was the only bidder. I wondered if I should have bid a lower price. This property was a police station which I think I can develop into a 6-star hotel. There are two gardens in front of the building and the architect told me we could use them for al-fresco dining. And I like the building.”
“Because of the pandemic everything stopped and the Venetian authorities used the building as a vaccination centre. The building was released to me after the pandemic. This case has nothing to do with me. The news report said my manager paid EUR73,000 and I too was involved in getting a lower price but there was only one tenderer, me,” Ching continues. Lotti looks after Ching’s properties in Italy.
Although the renovation of Palazzo Papadopoli is likely to be expensive. Ching reckons it’s worth the expense. “You can’t build a new building. I believe that Venice is unique, it’s a water city, and tourists will come,” he says.
The Pili Land is the 368,000 sq m waterfront property. According to ANSA, development was slated for a piece of land that Brugnaro (the Mayor) bought for EUR5 million at a public auction before he was mayor, and which was placed under a blind trust when he took office. The value of the land, on the mainland facing the Venetian lagoon, rose after it was slated for a public project during his tenure, the report says.
In an Oxley announcement on July 25, the company says Ching had considered the possibility of the Group developing the Pili Land into a waterfront township (similar to the Royal Wharf project in the UK). A preliminary feasibility study had been carried out. However, based on the results of the study it was determined that any development project would not be commercially viable as costs would be too high. There were no further steps taken in respect of the Pili Land and no discussions on the purchase price or any other details had taken place.
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“I went to Venice, and they showed me a few projects. One of them was Pili Land, by the sea, linked by a bridge to Venice. I did a feasibility study because there will be remediation land costs. I called DB Architects to ask their associate to do a feasibility study. The cost was very high. The Venetian authorities didn’t tell me what the land cost was,” Ching says.
After the feasibility study, Ching switched his attention to another public tender, Palazzo Dona, which he acquired for EUR7 million in his personal capacity. He turned it into a boutique hotel with 30 rooms and it’s rented to a hotel operator.
As for the ANSA report picked up by AP News, which referred to Lotti making a payment of EUR73,000, Ching says Lotti didn’t have anything to do with any payments to the councillor mentioned in the article.
