KEY POINTS:
The father of kidnapped schoolgirl Xin Xin Ma is facing charges over a West Auckland subdivision.
Mark Jian Ma was the property manager at the Riverglade Parkway site where homes were allegedly built without the necessary council consent.
It is alleged the foundation slabs for 14 homes were laid in the subdivision, just off McLeod Rd, without the paperwork. By the time charges were laid in April, nine of those slabs also had partially built homes on them. None of the work was legal, according to the Waitakere City Council.
Ma, one of seven people facing multiple charges of breaching the building code in relation to the subdivision, was due to appear in the Waitakere District Court last Tuesday. He should have entered a plea to the charges but the case was called off due to his personal circumstances.
The previous day, his 5-year-old daughter Xin Xin was snatched off the street while playing outside her mother's Harrowglen home in Albany. The schoolgirl was found on Friday in the cupboard of a partially built spec home, about 150m away from where she was taken.
A 25-year-old real estate agent, who is believed to have sold homes in the Harrowglen subdivision where Xin Xin's parents have also built dwellings, has been arrested in relation to the kidnapping.
Xin Xin's family say they know of the real estate agent but it is not clear if he sold any of the properties they had developed.
Details about why Xin Xin was kidnapped - and whether a ransom for her safe return was paid - have not been made public.
But there has been speculation within the Chinese community that the kidnapping may have been retribution for a deal gone wrong by her separated parents, both of whom are well known in property development.
People at the couple's former homes have told the Herald contractors had come looking for Ma and his ex-wife Jin Zhou.
They were after money for unpaid building debts.
Mail, including bankruptcy notices, also arrived at one of Mrs Zhou's former homes - although it is not clear who the letters were for.
It is unclear what stage Ma's latest project - the Riverglade Parkway subdivision - is now at or if any contractors have been left out of pocket.
Council spokeswoman Fiona Cunningham said the matter was before the courts so the council could not say if the building project had continued.
Yesterday, nine partially built homes were visible at the subdivision. Five concrete slabs were also visible among long grass.
No workers were at the subdivision and piles of bricks and tiles lay near the dwellings.
A neighbour said work on the homes had stopped last year for about four months but started again in February. It had stopped again about two weeks ago but he did not know why.
Only one of the homes, believed to be the subdivision show home, is finished. It is on the market for $579,000.
Ma is due to reappear in the Waitakere District Court in September, when he must enter a plea on the building code charges.
According to the Department of Building and Housing website, anyone who carries out building work without a consent is liable for a fine of up to $100,000, with a further fine for each day the offence continues.
