Family feud over money game

GEORGE TOWN: The love between two siblings has been torn to shreds – all because of money games.

A clerk, who wished to be known only as Ah Choo, said she would never forgive her younger brother for getting their 75-year-old mother involved in the MBI money game.

“When he told me he wanted to invest in early January, I advised him not to.

“Today, after reading news about MBI, my mum admitted that she had invested about RM22,000 through my brother.

“She is now worried about her investment. She’s a retiree and it was her life savings,” she said yesterday.

Ah Choo, 44, urged the task force investigating the JJPTR scheme to also probe MBI since Bank Negara Malaysia had added the company to its financial consumer alert list.

“My mum opted for the one-year investment package where you get nothing in the first 12 months.

“You can cash your profit only from the second year onwards. Now, my mum can’t withdraw it even if she wants to,” the Penangite said.

Ah Choo also urged the authorities to verify all the businesses linked to MBI and its subsidiaries.

The Star reported yesterday that two more popular financial schemes in Penang had been red-flagged by Bank Negara.

A check on the financial consumer alert list showed MBI Interna­tional Sdn Bhd and Mface Interna­tional Sdn Bhd to be the latest additions.

Both are subsidiaries of MBI Group International, a company with investors worldwide, many of them from China.

To date, 302 companies have been listed under the financial consumer alert list for suspicion of not adhering to relevant laws and regulations administered by Bank Negara.

Under the Financial Services Act 2013, individuals or businesses involved in illegal financial activities can be fined up to RM50mil and jailed for 10 years.

When contacted by a Chinese daily recently, MBI International chairman Tedy Teow’s special assistant Alfa said he did not think the company would face any problems.