Evergreen Mak and His Wife Lost Over $4 Million from a Scam
Known as Mak Bau, former TVB actor Evergreen Mak (麥長青) and his wife Allison Lam (林孜) have gotten themselves involved in a case of investment fraud.
In 2014, Mak Bau’s wife was cheated by a friend into investing approximately HK$4 million in a project which turned out to be a black market business for iPhones. The friend then scammed another client into the business, who eventually threatened Mak Bau for repayment, an amount totaling HK$1.18 million. The client had reportedly sent people to harass the staff at TVB and at On Kee, a dry seafood company that Mak Bau used to endorse. The disturbances caused Mak Bau to lose his endorsement.
Earlier, Mak Bau submitted his application for a restraining order at the High Court of Hong Kong, requesting the scammers to immediately cease their harassments. He also asked damages for emotional distress and lost profit, with monetary compensation up to seven figures.
According to sources, Mak Bau was harassed by two men, resembling loansharks, while filming for TVB’s Come Home Love <愛回家> in 2016. The incident had reportedly alerted even TVB executive Virginia Lok (樂易玲). It was said at the time that Virginia Lok refused to go to court as a witness, saying, “I want to stay out of it.”
Mak Bau stated that he did not know his wife was scammed until they moved homes, and found out that his wife had spent all of her savings on the investment. After the incidents, Mak Bau lost not only the On Kee endorsement, but his income at TVB also shrunk. TVB had stopped casting him in dramas, and he received only a HK$500 package for appearing on random variety shows and talk shows.
At the mention of his career struggles in court, Mak Bau angrily said, “I literally crawled up to this position. I didn’t do anything to you guys! I haven’t even reached the top yet, and you guys are already dragging me back down!” The judge told Mak Bau to calm down. Mak Bau bowed his head and said, “I’m being rash. I’m sorry.”
After the hearing, reporters rushed to Mak Bau for questions. The actor said, “Thank you for your concerns! The case hasn’t ended yet, so I cannot answer any questions in the meantime. I apologize! Please understand!”
Source: HK01.com
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
i feel bad for him. plenty of people are getting scammed these days.
I hope they’re doing ok at home. I can’t imagine how upset evergreen is for losing not only their savings, but also his income. it sucks they have to go through this, but I hope it resolves soon and he’ll find other opportunities outside of TVB. maybe this article will help him get jobs in film
His wife is dumb. Period.
I was wondering how he was doing after I saw him appear in some Chinese show on YouTube. Sad to hear that he’s going through this. It looks like his wife lost all her savings and thus affecting her husband’s career. Even though one may earn less, it’s better to invest in CD or something more stable.
Sad. People get often scammed because they are greedy and want to make fast cash.
I miss him, he used to be the funny Mak Bau that makes millions of people laugh… now after this incident he living in hell, feel so bad for him, gotta blame he wife for being too greedy and trust the wrong people without any research.
@vodka
I don’t think Evergreen Mak has been living in hell in recent years like you say. He still hosted that cooking show so had some screen time…
“In 2014, Mak Bau’s wife was cheated by a friend into investing approximately HK$4 million in a project which turned out to be a black market business for iPhones.”
For a 4 million investment and you didn’t even go find out what the real business is about?
weird.
@tomtom
Think the new IPhone came out and she just went mad in buying them to resell. She isn’t exactly getting businesswoman of the year. It isn’t really a business…
@tomtom sometimes people trust the wrong friends