PETALING JAYA: Just days after the expose on JJPTR, more forex schemes are falling apart, with investors losing billions of ringgit.
Three such schemes – Change Your Life (CYL), Richway Global Venture and BTC I-system – are said to be heading the same way after its members failed to receive their “profits” on time as promised.
Members of Richway Global Venture, an agriculture-cum-forex “investment” scheme which started in May 2016, are complaining that they have not been paid this month.
They began accusing the scheme’s founder, who goes under the handle “Vanguard of Farmers” on WeChat, of swindling them of some RM1.2bil.
The founder is pleading to his members to stop hounding him to pay the interest promised, assuring them that he had not run away with their money.
“If you’re so worried, why did you invest in the first place? It is either you win or lose. Please give me some time to sort out this problem, and it is not time for me to run away with your money,” the founder wrote in Chinese.
One of the investors was a single mother who borrowed money from friends as well as her bank to “invest” in the scheme, reports China Press.
“I thought it could last a year, at least until my child is weaned which would then allow me to go out to work. I did not know it would turn out this way. This is a dark scheme,” she posted on Facebook.
BTC I-system, a scheme which claims to invest in the bitcoin digital currency, could also be in trouble with investors no longer getting their payouts.
BTC I-system offered even better returns than the failed JJPTR. It promised 30% back every 15 days, excluding Sundays, based on the value of the bitcoin on the day of the payout. The 30% payout is for four consecutive 15-day periods before the percentage drops to 12.5% every 15 days after that.
This means members can recoup their investments in about two months if the bitcoin value remained the same as when they put in their investment.
However, it appears to be in troubled waters just seven months after it began operations in September last year.
An investor, self-employed Tommy Tang, said he stopped receiving the payouts for his RM3,000 investment early this month.
Tang, who has recouped his capital and made profits as he invested the money in September, said he sensed something amiss when the payouts started coming in late since February.
“When some members asked about the late payouts in the WeChat group, they were told to be patient.
“Those who had just invested were given assurances they would get back their capital.
“Early this month, we were all removed from the WeChat group. We did not hear from them after that,” said Tang who is in his 30s.
He said the company, which claims to be registered in Vietnam, had hosted regular seminars at its office here to sell its plans and rope in more members.
“Everything looked so real as the WeChat administrator even showed daily charts of the market value of bitcoin in ringgit.
“It was easy money,” he said.
A 43-year-old housewife who invested US$500 (RM2,170.50) in CYL said the company staff were not giving her answers when she asked if she could get her money.“I invested using money I saved sen by sen. I joined as I wanted to make money to help my family, but now, all my money is gone,” said the housewife.
Another CYL investor, who wished to be known only as Yeoh, said he was frustrated as the company has failed to pay the promised returns since a few weeks ago.“I think many other investors also feel the same. Some even planned to lodge police reports as the company could not provide us with a clear direction.
“I feel that the company is collapsing soon and my money is gone,” said Yeoh.
CYL, which started in November last year, offers investment packages of US$500 (RM2,170.50), US$1,000 (RM4,341), US$3,000 (RM13,023), US$6,000 (RM26,046) and US$10,000 (RM43,410). Investors were promised 7.5% returns weekly, which is equivalent to 30% a month.
A 10-second video, which went viral on social media, showed investors swarming a CYL office, which is believed to be in Penang, following talk that the company might collapse.
Money game player Leon Hong claimed many of those who invested in such schemes knew that they were “scams” from the beginning.
“But we were always told that we are among the ‘pioneers’ and the plan would not go bust so early,” he said.
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