Hawker loses son’s medical fund to money game

GEORGE TOWN: A hawker lost her money that she had saved to pay for her son’s dialysis when the money game scheme she invested in collapsed.

The 60-year-old woman from Butterworth, known only as Teoh, said she invested in Live Coin in the hope of getting more money to pay for the treatment of her 40-year-old son, who has been a kidney patient for 31 years.

She said she invested about RM2,000 in Live Coin early this year when a close friend introduced the scheme to her. However, she stopped receiving the promised fortnightly returns last month.

“I never thought that it would collapse so fast. I thought I could get returns for a few more months, so that the burden on my shoulder could be lightened a little longer.

“I am not blaming my friend as he just wanted to ease my burden. He knew that I work about 16 hours a day despite my weak legs to bear my son’s medical expenses,” she told a Chinese daily.

Teoh was among some 20 Live Coin investors who complained to the daily in Butterworth on Thursday that they had not received the promised returns.

She said her son needed about RM1,000 monthly for his dialysis treatment.

“The RM2,000 I invested was my hard-earned money. It is bad for money game companies to cheat poor people like me,” she added.

She said she also felt guilty for inviting her daughter-in-law, relatives and friends to join the scheme, which resulted in them losing a total of about RM10,000.

When contacted, Penang Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief Asst Comm Abdul Ghani Ahmad said police had received one report on the Live Coin investment scheme in the state so far.

Live Coin set an entry price of RM390 per unit and investors were promised RM70 in returns or about 18% every two weeks for that amount.