The directors of Cheng Group included Chew Hong Nyioh, also known as “Winnie”, her husband William Cheng and Winston Franklin, who is deceased.
Cheng and Nyioh are the parents of convicted drug trafficker Thomas Cheng, who was based in Gisborne as landlord at Gisborne’s Masonic Hotel before his arrest in 2016.
He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2018 after being convicted of importing and supplying methamphetamine. He received additional charges for further offending from prison. He was released on parole and deported from New Zealand on June 15, 2023.
Six properties owned by companies associated with his parents Cheng and Nyioh were restrained under the Criminal Proceeds Recovery Act during Thomas Cheng’s criminal…