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Elizabeth (Ying) Zhong, a murdered Auckland businesswoman, was under surveillance by debt collectors and a mystery man in a golden Toyota before she was stabbed and hidden in her car. Stuff understands.
Police have yet to make an arrest nearly three weeks since the embattled businessman was killed, and investigators continue to say little publicly about the progress of their investigations.
Meanwhile, more new information has emerged about the 55-year-old Zhong’s desperate last months as his wine and film businesses and personal finances collapsed under debt totaling more than $ 10 million.
His personal and corporate creditors included the Bank of New Zealand, his close business partner and film financier Fang Sun, the management of North Shore’s immigration and finance company CNZF, and West Auckland’s real estate investment firm General Growth Group.
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General Growth and Sun sought bankruptcy against Zhong personally, which continued after his death.
She was declared bankrupt on Tuesday morning at a hearing before Deputy Judge Dani Lee Gardiner in Auckland High Court.
Stuff understands that he was under intermittent surveillance by a private investigation and debt collection firm in the months prior to his death.
Firm staff would be stationed outside the Suzetta Pl property in Sunnyhills, east of Auckland, to make sure she was home to deliver her documents, it is understood.
Chris McKeen / Stuff
Police are conducting a forensic examination of Elizabeth Zhong’s Sunnyhills home.
His efforts to evade debt collectors and document servers increased in the run-up to his death.
One of her neighbors on Suzetta Pl, Diane Gotty, said she saw a gold Toyota Camry sedan driven by a man of East Asian descent parked outside of Zhong’s property, who appeared to be guarding the home in the months leading up to her death.
The private investigation firm declined to comment, but the company is understood to have no vehicles or personnel matching that description.
Zhong’s ex-husband, Frank Fu, who denies any involvement in the murder, drives a black utility vehicle.
Fu was interviewed by police for about five hours at the Counties Manukau station after arriving at the place of her death on the night of Saturday, November 28, after her body was found in her Land Rover around the corner. that morning.
Supplied
Elizabeth Zhong, pictured with her dogs in 2014.
Fu was with Zhong for more than three decades after meeting at university in China before emigrating to New Zealand in 1997. He was a pallbearer at his funeral.
Fu returned to the Suzetta Pl property on Thursday morning with his new partner removing some of his personal effects stored in Zhong’s garage.
The police completed their extensive forensic examination of Zhong’s property, lifted the cordon and removed the guards from the scene.
Sources said that Zhong, who has been described as a very intelligent and loving person, seemed increasingly distraught, desperate and depressed in the months leading up to her death.
On October 30, he attended a hearing in Auckland High Court where liquidators were appointed for his company Digifilm and its shareholder, Sunbow Limited.
The night after the hearing, an ambulance was called to Zhong’s home.
Chris McKeen / Stuff
A police photographer captures an image of Elizabeth Zhong’s home in the days after her death.
Another neighbor, who declined to be identified, said she saw Zhong being transported on a stretcher to an ambulance on the night of October 30.
Gotty said that Zhong seemed to live alone in the run-up to his death, although a man other than Fu was occasionally seen there.
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Fu kept in touch with Zhong and sometimes looked after her dog.
During the first level one shutdown, a man and a woman, who was not Zhong, resided in the $ 2 million house, Gotty said.
Stuff she has heard speculation from those who had business dealings with Zhong that whoever killed her may have fled the country before the police launched their murder investigation.
However, police will not say whether they believe those responsible may have left New Zealand, whether this is part of their investigations, or whether blocks or flags have been placed in passports.
Zhong’s Land Rover was found at around 11:15 am, when the bloody crime scene at his home was discovered, but police did not find his body in the car until that night.
Supplied
Elizabeth (Ying) Zhong, who was killed at her home between the afternoon of Friday, November 28, and the following day, was dismissed at a small private funeral in Auckland.
Detective Inspector Shaun Vickers said her body was found hidden in the trunk under various items from her home.
While police were finding his car, submitting a missing persons appeal, and then launching a murder investigation, several international flights left the country.
Mei Yang, a diplomat at the Chinese embassy, said that they learned of the case through media reports and then immediately contacted the police and confirmed that she was a New Zealand citizen.
“The case is still under investigation and, if necessary, we are ready to provide the necessary assistance.”
