Company director arrested over yoga chain closure

Customs officers have arrested a 61-year-old company director over the abrupt closure of yoga chain Hotstone Yoga. The man was arrested on suspicion of “wrongly accepting payment” under the Trade Descriptions Ordinance. Customs said it received ongoing reports from residents claiming they could not redeem prepaid services, after the chain posted notices on Wednesday announcing its immediate shutdown. Customs had received 381 complaints involving nearly HK$4.1 million as of 5pm on Friday, with a single loss amounting to around HK$46,000. Chong Kai-shing, Divisional Commander of the Unfair Trade Practice Investigation Division, said the investigation was ongoing and did not rule out further arrests. “One of the main directions of our upcoming investigation is to look at the merchant's operational and financial condition before it closed down. So at this stage we cannot disclose the relevant information for the time being. As for where the relevant funds went, that is also one of our investigation directions. At this stage, it is not convenient for us to disclose that either,” he said. Meanwhile, the Consumer Council said they received 286 complaints as of 5pm on Friday, with losses amounting to about HK$3.9 million. Edited by Aaron Tam