Singaporean developer Jerome Tan investigated by police over Geraldton Chinatown and Disneyland project

A Singaporean businessman at the centre of plans to build a Disneyland-styled theme park and Chinatown in Geraldton is being pursued by a group of overseas investors who fear they will never see their money again. Self-proclaimed millionaire Jerome Tan is reportedly bankrupt and being investigated by Singaporean authorities after more than 50 people filed a police report against him and his company PIP Holdings. Jerome Tan was the public face of a “highly ambitious” project which would have seen a huge area of land on the outskirts of Geraldton developed into a “Chinatown city”. Two separate companies linked to Mr Tan own three plots of land in Moresby. Rentak Land Pty Ltd bought Lot 52 Fairfax Drive in 2014, covering 335ha north of the Chapman River. Mr Tan is listed as a director of Rentak Land, along with well-known Singaporean business identity Richard Tan — the founder and chair of one of the biggest business seminar companies in the world, Success Resources. It can be revealed Richard Tan is also a director of the second company which bought land in Moresby. Geraldton Land Pty acquired Lot 1011 and Lot 28 Fairfax Drive in 2018, adding another 256ha of land for the Chinatown pro-ject. But there has been little to no progress on the development, with the expansive parcels remaining barren paddocks. Over the past seven years, Jerome Tan has repeatedly talked up the project, saying in 2019 PIP Holdings was planning to build thousands of homes, an international school, a hotel resort and a retirement village. Back in 2014 — when the project was is in its infancy — Jerome Tan made a presentation to would-be investors asking them to put money into a “theme park project”. The presentation — titled The Godfather Deal (II) — spruiked Jerome Tan’s WA business connections and his access to City of Greater Geraldton officials, including former CEO Ken Diehm. A screenshot of email correspondence between Mr Diehm and Jerome Tan discussed the “possibility of bringing Disneyland to Geraldton”, with Mr Diehm indicating his executive staff were drafting a letter of support and would contact Mr Tan about the proposed site’s suitability. Hundreds of people were sold on the Moresby development, pouring millions of dollars into the project. One of those investors is Singaporean resident Jochen Siepmann, who told the Guardian he was yet to receive a single cent from the $10,000 he loaned PIP Holdings in 2014. Mr Siepmann said he was promised a 4-5 per cent return on his loan each year. He considers himself one of the “lucky ones”, with other investors putting in between $50,000 and $300,000. “We have found 300 people who are concerned,” Mr Siepmann said. “One of them discovered Jerome Tan was bankrupt ... so we can’t sue him. That’s why we’ve gone to the police, to see if there is a scam, embezzlement or fraud. Every day, more people are coming forward to file reports.” It isn’t the first time Jerome Tan has filed for bankruptcy. In fact he widely publicises it, with the Singaporean businessman writing a book on going broke in 1999 called From Bankruptcy To Multi-Millions in Seven Years. By 2019, Jerome Tan claimed he owned more than 100 properties in eight countries. “When you talk about buying properties with no money, it doesn’t mean needing no money, you just use other people’s money,” he said in a YouTube interview. During that interview he said it was “confirmed” Geraldton Airport would be upgraded to an international terminal and the value of the land in Moresby had already gone up. While the airport was recently upgraded to take bigger domestic planes, City of Greater Geraldton Mayor Shane Van Styn said an international passenger terminal had never been on the cards. He said the City council gave approval to rezone Lot 28 Fairfax Drive from rural to urban development in February 2019, but the proponents had not taken the residential housing project any further. “It always raised our eyes with the scale he was talking,” Mr Van Styn said. “As a residential development, while it’s a big grand plan, it’s no different to building Wandina again.” Mr Van Styn said Jerome Tan had mentioned building a theme park in Geraldton, but he did not take it seriously. He said he had not heard from Jerome Tan for 18 months, assuming it was because of COVID-19. “He brought a lot of people to Geraldton, took them on tours, and flew them over the Abrolhos and over to the pink lake,” Mr Van Styn said. “He put rubber on the road — you have to give him that.” Updating investors on PIP Holdings in July, Jerome Tan said the company was “having challenges selling the property”, largely because of the pandemic. “There are a lot of rumours out there, a lot of fear, uncertainty and doubt about your investment,” he said. “Some of you called me a scammer. I wish I’m a scammer. If I’m scammer now I probably in one of the Caribbean Islands drinking my cocktail on the beach. “I’m looking for buyers. We don’t have any offer yet.” Mr Siepmann believes the pandemic is being used as a convenient excuse for the lack of progress. “If there was a delay I would accept that,” he said “However, if in seven years nothing has happened it’s got nothing to do with corona. “There are people who invested some of their life savings — the smaller investors. For them, it’s pretty devastating.”