Get-rich-quick scheme leaves cattle rearer poorer by RM48,000

NIBONG TEBAL: A cattle rearer lost RM48,000 to a get-rich-quick scheme after raising the fund by withdrawing from EPF and selling his cows.

A. Nagandran, 58, who is from Taman Mutiara Cempaka in Batu Kawan, said it all started in March last year when three men proposed an investment scheme to him.

“As I was already nearing retirement, I thought why not,” the father of five said when met yesterday.

Nagandran said one of the “uplines” helped create an email account for him and guided him on what to do next, which included transferring funds into a bank account.

“I sold the cows and used RM8,000 of the proceeds, as well as withdrew RM40,000 from my EPF for the investment,” he recalled.

Things went well at first, as Nagandran received payments for the first three months – although the monthly returns were lower than the RM5,040 promised earlier.

“I got only RM4,400 in my bank account in the first month. For the second month I received RM4,399, followed by RM4,398 in the third month. The reason given was the global economic slowdown,” he added.

“But when I did not receive my share in the fourth and fifth month, I was given various excuses and my family appealed to me to pull out from the investment. I was told that I would need to pay a RM1,200 fee as penalty to withdraw, which I paid.

“Later, I was told that the money was being held by a Datuk and a Datin who owned the company, and that they needed to sign documents to release the money,” said Nagandran.

Nagandran said he went to Kuala Lumpur to look for the company.

“I couldn’t find the company. A check with the Companies Commission showed that the investment company had closed.

“I have nothing now and cannot afford to engage lawyers to sue the company or people involved,” he added.