KUALA LUMPUR: Several victims have come forward to expose an investment scam amounting to RM1 billion involving a local businessman with a 'Datuk' title who has been operating his illicit activities for more than 15 years.
One of the victims, Shah Abdul Malek, a cosmetics businessman, said that he had fallen for the scheme which promised him valuable returns for investing money in credit lenders proposed by the Datuk.
He said that the Datuk had many tricks up his sleeve including his persuasive ways and mentioning names of influential parties in order to lure potential investors to invest in the companies.
"He promised to give us investment returns from my RM5 million investment, about five per cent within six months but later on nothing happened.
"When we pushed him for clarity on our monies, he said that the company is unable to provide the returns and in the end we are left with nothing.
"He even threatened to report us to the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) for evading taxes from the investments we made.
"He ruined my life with the soaring burden of debt from money that disappeared and the consequences of false actions in court that caused me to be declared bankrupt.
"I believe there are many others like me, hundreds of them including doctors and teachers who have fallen into his investment trap," he said in a press conference today.
Another victim was a businessman from the United Kingdom named Lee Rodger Meiklejohn who was cheated from the same Datuk for about RM60 million from the investments made between 2010 and 2017.
Lee said that he received a presentation from the Datuk about a promising company potentially acquiring a telecommunications company and that a 'Tan Sri' billionaire has a 30 per cent stake at the company, to further strengthen the trust towards his scheme.
Lee was then told by the Datuk that any foreign investment must go through a local licensed financial company, and he made so to such a company owned by the Datuk.
However, the money was laundered and syphoned out of the said company.
Two police reports were made, including the latest one yesterday at a police station in Petaling Jaya here for further action.
"The investigators seem positive that it is a clear cut case, hopefully we can get some sort of justice," he added.
Also present was another victim, a senior citizen named Amarjeet Singh who had invested around USD3 million via a similar modus operandi.
Shah claimed that the Datuk is well protected by a Tan Sri who has influence in the government including the police, Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC), and also the Attorney-General's Chambers to end any investigations against the Datuk.
He is now seeking more victims to come forward in order for them to file a joint police report to further escalate the case in their favour.
"Our aim is to put a stop to his scam before others are affected by him.
"I promise to help them as much as possible including (giving) legal advice related to the case," he added.