PETALING JAYA: About 300 investors are demanding back their total capital worth almost RM90mil from a company believed to be operating an investment scheme illegally.
National Consumer Foundation president Datuk Mohd Firdaus Abdullah said they received complaints from some 300 investors claiming that they had not received their investment returns as well as the bonuses that were promised to them.
The investors, Firdaus said, were promised 30% to 40% returns on their capital, which the company claimed would be invested overseas.
Checks show that the company has no licence to collect money from the public for investment purposes, Firdaus added.
"It is a local company and it has a few subsidiaries, too.
"They have over 4,000 people invested in their programme, mostly Chinese. There are also foreign investors from Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Cambodia and others.
"Some of them started investing five years ago, initially, they would get their payments but it stops after a while," he said, adding that some invested more than one RM1mil.
Earlier, the foundation organised a seminar where some of these investors were briefed on what could be done in hopes of getting their money back.
Among those called to brief the investors were officers from the Commercial Crime Investigation Department and the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry, as well as lawyer Manian K. Marappan.
Firdaus said the company would be given until Wednesday (June 29) to respond to investors' requests, or civil and criminal actions would be initiated.
"When the investors approach the company, they give all sorts of excuses, sometimes the victims can't even get through to them.
"They have lost their patience, so they come to us.
"Now we are giving the company three days to come out with a proper answer, we want them to pay back the investors' capital, if they fail, we will take civil actions and will get the investors to lodge police reports.
"We will also lodge a report to the Domestic Trade Ministry over the illegal investment scheme," he said, adding that the company is registered as a business under the Companies Commission of Malaysia.
Firdaus said, besides online, the company seeks for new clients by going to the ground and targeting the current investors' friends.
