Hong Kong Customs has arrested a 61-year-old company director after Hotstone Yoga shut all its branches abruptly, with customers reporting that they could not redeem prepaid yoga services. The man was arrested on suspicion of wrongly accepting payment under the Trade Descriptions Ordinance.
The chain announced on September 30 that it would close immediately. By 5pm on October 2, Customs had received 381 complaints involving about HK$4.07 million. The reported sums ranged from HK$1,000 to HK$46,000.
The Consumer Council separately said it had received 286 complaints related to the closure by the same time, involving HK$3,909,444. Customers said they had been offered courses shortly before the shutdown or had recently renewed memberships; some had prepaid more than HK$10,000.
Customs officers contacted more than 100 complainants during the two days after the closure to learn more about their cases. The investigation is examining the company's operating and financial condition before it closed, whether there was unusual sales activity and where the prepaid funds went.
Chong Kai-shing, a Customs divisional commander, said the investigation was continuing and that further arrests had not been ruled out.