East Tāmaki house razed by fire owned by Chinese-Canadian businessman accused of $ 202 million pyramid scheme

An East Tāmaki home ravaged by a major fire last night is owned by a wealthy Chinese businessman accused of running a massive pyramid scheme from Canada.

A brick wall and a fireplace are all that remain of the four-bedroom home along Point View Drive, after a fire raged through the property at 8:30 p.m.

The massive fire, which spewed smoke and yellow flames into the night sky, took firefighters nearly six hours to put out.

Records show that the 25m by 30m property is owned by Xiao Hua Gong, who is accused of amassing $ 202 million through a pyramid scheme selling drugs in China.

Also known as Edward Gong, he was arrested in Canada in December 2017 and charged with fraud and money laundering in connection with the alleged pyramid scheme involving the “fraudulent sale of hundreds of millions of dollars” in Chinese stocks.

Nine months before Gong’s arrest in Canada, a High Court judge granted freezing orders on Gong’s assets in New Zealand, which include $ 69.5 million in bank accounts and an Auckland home worth $ 2 million.

New Zealand detectives alleged that Gong transferred nearly $ 12 million to the country from Canada.

The money laundering was committed here in order to distance Gong from the alleged pyramid scheme in China, police said.

It took eight fire crews two hours to get the blaze under control last night, with the “massive” blaze visible from at least 2 miles away, a witness said.

One person was in the home at the time and was assessed by St John Ambulance. Fire investigators were at the ruined home this morning.