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Clifford Lo

The sole director from troubled gym chain California Fitness was being sought by local authorities following the arrest of two of its ­senior executives for violating the city’s trade descriptions law, the Post has learned.
Further arrests might be made as former directors and salespersons involved in the case were also under investigation.
Wong Lun has become the sole director of JV Fitness – which runs the gym chain and its sister outlets mYoga and Leap – after the firm’s four directors departed between April and May.
It is understood that Wong, a Hong Kong resident, is currently out of town.
Sources with knowledge of the case said he was being sought by the both police and the Customs and Excise Department.
On Monday, the two senior executives – a 57-year-old man, the company secretary, and a 45-year-old woman, the firm’s vice-president – were arrested when officers from customs’ Intellectual Property Investigation Bureau raided the company’s headquarters in Kowloon Bay.
Hong Kong staff give California Fitness owners 48 hours to outline how to settle back pay
Without revealing the name of the fitness centre, customs said the pair were arrested on ­suspicion of failing to provide relevant services after having accepted payment from consumers under the Trade Descriptions ­Ordinance.
The two Hongkongers were later released on bail pending further investigation. The arrests were made after the department received more than 180 complaints from members of the Whampoa club and launched the probe.
One source said initial investigation showed the company’s Whampoa club faced closure earlier this year due to unpaid rent, but frontline staff were still asked to sell membership services to new clients and persuade existing members to renew contracts. JV Fitness boasts about 100,000 members, the Post has learned.

“This is in violation of the Trade Descriptions Ordinance under the wrongly accepting payment section,” the source said.
Under the Trade Descriptions Ordinance, management staff will be liable if an offence is committed with their consent or connivance or is attributed to their neglect, and the offence carries a maximum penalty of five years in jail and a HK$500,000 fine.
The California Fitness chain, formerly known as JV Fitness, opened its first gym in Hong Kong in 1996, and at its peak operated nine outlets in the city.
An investigation by the Post revealed the firm’s four directors – Wong Ping-kuen, Cheng Wai-hong, Cheng Kar-tat and Chan Wai-man – departed one after another between April and May.
Wong Ping-kuen, who joined as a director only in December last year, filed a winding-up petition against the fitness chain on June 27 via his BeSpark Technologies Engineering.
Financial woes of Hong Kong gym chain California Fitness spread to mainland China with Beijing branch shutting its doors
A source told the Post that some of the directors, including Wong, had been arrested before over suspicion of unfair trade practices in some branches.
The Post also revealed on Friday that the sole California Fitness branch in Beijing had to shut its door temporarily due to a lack of funding. But it resumed services on Monday.
After the closure of the chain’s Whampoa outlet on Monday last week, more than 1,000 people joined a social media “victim group” seeking recompensation from the company.
Since then, at least five more branches and a Leap centre have been found struggling to pay rent, owing a debt on paper of up to HK$14.1 million.
Last Thursday, the Kowloon Tong home of Wong Ping-kuen was the target of a group of masked men who plastered notes on the front gate demanding that he repay a HK$6 million debt.
About 100 workers from California Fitness have given their employers until 10pm Monday in a 48-hour ultimatum to pay their June wages as the Labour Tribunal called on owners to observe labour laws.


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California Fitness

Two California Fitness senior executives arrested on suspicion of flouting Hong Kong’s trade descriptions law

An unidentified senior official of the California Fitness was taken away by officers of the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department from the Kowloon Bay Office for further investigation.Photo: Felix Wong

California Fitness located in Kowloon Bay open business as usual. 11JUL16 SCMP/ Felix Wong

Financial woes of Hong Kong gym chain California Fitness spread to mainland China with Beijing branch shutting its doors

This branch of California Fitness in Beijing was closed on Friday. Photo: SCMP Pictures

A notice paper says California Fitness closed in Beijing today. 08JUL16 SCMP Pictures (Handout)

Gym trainers are seen at BeSpark Technologies Engineering Ltd, parent company of California Fitness in Kowloon Bay. 07JUL16 SCMP/ Nora Tam

Hong Kong staff give California Fitness owners 48 hours to outline how to settle back pay

The shuttered California Fitness branch in Hung Hom that sparked fears about the chain’s future. Photo: Felix Wong

Hong Kong Consumer Council names and shames California Fitness for aggressive sales practices

Angela Ng (left), chairwoman of the Trade Practices and Consumer Complaints Review Committee, and Consumer Council chief executive Gilly Wong at a press conference on the fitness chain’s sales practices. Photo: Bruce Yan