Investors duped into losing millions in schemes (Poll Inside)

At wit’s end: A group of investors gathering at the Sentul police headquarters after lodging their reports. — YAP CHEE HONG/The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: She wanted to grow her retirement nest, so she placed about RM500,000 with a trusted agent.

“I trusted the agent because we had signed an agreement,” said the retiree who only wanted to be known as Lee.

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It all seemed legitimate, she said, adding that all she wanted was to have a comfortable life in her twilight years.

But now, she wonders if she would ever see her money again.

“The company I invested in cited the pandemic as the reason for not paying dividends to investors.”

Lee was among 105 victims who lodged police reports against the company at the Sentul district police headquarters here yesterday.

Another victim, Siti, said she had invested RM300,000 in 2019 after she was promised 30% returns in one year.

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She said that she felt assured when the agent cited names of VVIPs and prominent politicians.

“I did not know it was a scam because they showed me approval letters from government agencies.”

By 2020, Siti still had not received any dividends.

“When I tried to follow up on this, the company did not even respond to my queries,” she added.

In view of the silence, Siti said she approached the Malaysia International Humanitarian Organisation (MHO) where she discovered others in the same situation.

Another victim, a Yemeni national, said he was approached by a “relationship manager” of a supposed bank.

“The relationship manager convinced me that it was a good and safe investment with 10% guaranteed returns,” he said, adding that he invested RM330,000 in the scheme which involved sukuk and seafood.

MHO secretary-general Datuk Hishamuddin Hashim said the victims were involved in five types of investments offered by a marketing management company.

He said they were lured into putting their money into supposed trust funds, shares, and sukuk, among others.

These investors were promised that they would get profits ranging from 15% to 24%, depending on their capital and investment period, he told reporters yesterday.

MHO advisor Tan Sri Musa Hassan suggested the government draft a law to deal with fraud including stock investments to prevent more people from becoming victims.