Organised crime suspected in Penang scam

Expert tells police not to discount the possibility that there's a connection with terrorism.

PETALING JAYA: A security expert has urged investigating authorities to consider the possibility that organised crime connected to terrorism is behind a recently reported investment scam in Penang.

According to Bernama, at least 107 people have claimed to have lost RM6 million to a company in Penang after investing in a scheme offering high returns. A representative of the group, Justin Tay Ooi Hong, said the scheme started about a year ago and none of the investors had received the promised returns.

Tay claimed that more than 500 people had become victims but many had yet to lodge police reports.

Speaking to FMT, JK Associates principal consultant Khen Han Ming said scams involving huge amounts of money would more often than not be run by organised crime syndicates.

“The police should not discount this possibility,” he said. “My concern is how the money is being used to further fund illicit trade and so on.

“Some investment scams are purely con jobs. But others involve organised crime. The funds, especially if they are huge, may even be used to fund terrorism.”

He said such syndicates often originated from outside the country and would target countries facing hard times economically.

“Times are tough. Our currency value is low and people are looking for overseas investments. This is one of the main reasons why they fall for such scams. They are always promised high returns in foreign currency.”

He said that these scams were usually “so sophisticated that they would bogus live forex market monitoring simulations and all.” -FMT