KUALA LUMPUR: Multiple police reports have been lodged after at least 20 individuals claimed to have lost over RM15mil in luxury timepieces to a watch reseller.
MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Seri Michael Chong said clients had entrusted their watches to a shop operated by a woman, who would earn a commission once a sale was made.
However, Chong said problems began to surface in December last year, when the woman allegedly informed clients that their watches had been sold but failed to return the proceeds.
"She gave numerous excuses, ranging from delayed customer deposit payments to claiming she was suffering from mental health issues.
"This led many frustrated victims to visit her shop, only to find its doors shuttered since March this year," he told reporters during a press conference at Wisma MCA on Thursday (May 15).
Chong noted that several police reports have been lodged after the woman failed to respond to attempts to contact her.
The alleged victims reported individual losses ranging from RM30,000 to several million ringgit, with many of the missing timepieces said to be from prestigious brands such as Rolex.
One victim, who declined to be named, said he suffered losses of over RM500,000, as he never received his luxury watches or the money from their sale.
"I had been dealing with her in luxury watches for over 20 years without any problems, but I never imagined she would resort to this so suddenly," he said.
Another victim said she began to suspect foul play after meeting with others and discovering that the same watch had been "sold" to multiple people.
"In this way, we all paid her to buy and resell the watches, while it cost her nothing to run the business," she said.
