Colliers sues investor over fraud accusation

Colliers CRE is suing a private investor for defamation. The investor, Hardeep Johal from Slough, Berkshire, blames the agent for a loss of £67,000 on a tower development in Beijing, China. He has been posting notes on numerous web message boards accusing Colliers of fraud. He claims that he was given misinformation on the 20-storey Cultural Tower in the Chinese capital’s Zhongguancun province – Beijing’s Silicon Valley. The 1.1m sq ft tower was completed in 2006. Colliers and its global business, Colliers International, were leasing agents and property managers for the building. Colliers said it had asked Johal to stop posting the messages, but he refused. Colliers issued its claim on 17 September to prevent Johal from posting further comments. Last Friday (3 October), lawyers for Colliers told Judge Simon Hawkesworth QC that the agent had agreed to give Johal three weeks to gather the evidence that he claims justifies his allegations and will enable him to defend the claim against the agents. The judge warned Johal, who has no legal representation, that if he failed to prove justification he would be liable to pay substantial legal costs to Colliers. After the hearing, Johal said: “I am now getting my witness statements and evidence together. I stand by my statements 100%. I don’t make random complaints against people. “I invested through Colliers in 2006 and, according to the brochure, which was in English, Colliers said it would be involved in the development for the next 10 years, but now it has stepped aside and said it is not responsible and that I must deal with a company in China. I will be launching a formal fraud and deception case against Colliers.” Colliers declined to comment.