Investors beware: All that glitters is not gold

YOURSAY 'How do you expect Bank Negara to act early when Umno's god Dr M was the man who officiated the opening inauguration of Genneva.'

BN MPs slam Bank Negara over gold investment fiasco

Pemerhati: It is nice to hear the BN representatives highlighting important issues and talking sense for a change. In this case, we need to find out who allowed what was obviously a Ponzi scheme to proceed.

We also need to identify the masterminds of these illegal Ponzi schemes, who probably have raked in tens of millions, and bring them to justice.

But this is unlikely to happen because our top enforcement officials and the others are most probably in cahoots with these crooks and probably get a share of the loot.

This can be clearly seen from the fact that the ‘Ah Longs' openly and brazenly advertise their services and even cover the road signboards by pasting their advertisements on them. They cause mischief by throwing red paint and even physically harm those who do not pay their illegal exorbitant rates.

With so much easy evidence available why do the police refuse to nab the culptits and put a stop to this menace? You do not need a rocket scientist to figure that out.

Mushiro: Bank Negara has proven to be a lethargic body that is ever ready to please only Umno. How do you expect Bank Negara to act early when Umno's god Dr Mahathir Mohamad was the man who officiated the opening inauguration of Genneva.

Dr M even encouraged everyone to invest in gold. Among others who attended Genneva's other functions were Deputy Finance Minister Donald Lim and PM wife's Rosmah Mansor.

So we have Umno-BN leaders encouraging Genneva to cheat the people on one side and we expect Bank Negara to catch and stop Genneva on the other side.

Vijay47: Many Malaysians have learned to their great regret that all that glitters is not gold, not that they were not aware of it. Most of these gold-diggers suppressed even basic intelligence and let pure greed rule their heads.

Two adages come to mind - if it is too good to be true, it is. The other is that pearl by PT Barnum, "There is a sucker born every minute".

But some of these easy-fortune seekers cannot be blamed, they were inspired by elegant city folks who graced launch ceremonies to egg people to "invest in gold!"

Among these worthies were the First Lady of Malaysia herself and one venerable Dr M. Now two Umno politicians have taken out the long knives on Bank Negara. Fair enough.

But shouldn't some of your condemnation and fury be also directed towards Rose and Matt? Their unstinted praise and glowing support to the pseudo get-rich scheme lent it a facade of credence many less knowledgeable could ill-afford to enjoy.

Time to sell the dacha in Genneva, folks

Davis: I got cheated. Should the goverment, using the rakyat's money, compensate me for my losses?

Dappy: Bank Negara never responded to my complaints when I was cheated by an insurance company that insisted that I will need to continue with my payment of premiums indefinitely although it had reached the end of the agreed payment period of 12 years.

As a result, my RM40,000 premium was burnt due to Bank Negara's failure to protect the people. They only asked the insurance company to reply and it got me nowhere.

Odin: Sorry if I sound heartless because I am not, but I'm not too sure if the investors who have lost their shirts deserve any sympathy.

These get-rich-quick-scams-resulting-in-the-fingers-of-many-a-greedy-sucker-burned aren't new. I can recall very clearly that even professionals such as medical doctors and lawyers had fallen prey some years ago to the Nigerian ‘black money' scam.

If it's too good to be true, it isn't. Greed is one of the seven deadly sins, haven't they heard?

Mahashitla: How did this gold scheme get to take off in the first place? Its returns of 2% to 2.5% per month or up to 30% per year defies any investment scheme.

And with royalties and VVIPs involved, including Dr M who officiated its opening, who can ever believe that this scheme will turn out to be a scam or a Ponzi scheme.

After up to RM10 billion invested and 35,000 investors were trapped did Bank Negara stepped in. We need to establish the truth as to the real culprits behind this grand scheme.
Bank Negara must have been sleeping for too long or that some of its officials were corrupt. Heads must roll and the mastermind exposed.

Sa Tombs: Why blame Bank Negara when the King of Thieves blessed such schemes with his patronage.

He can't say "tak pasti" or "tak ingat" because there are photographs of his presence. This is what he has been doing ever since he became PM.

Remember how he gloated about Promet, whose directors were flying in their Lear jets and traveling in Rolls Royces and how the Langkawi project was given on a platter to the company.

And don't forget jailed tycoon Abdullah Ang. Do we blame Bank Negara for these, as well as the drastic loss of foreign currency speculation of which BN leaders keep their mouths shut?

Anonymous #58458950: Whatever it is, Malaysians need closure on this to be able to move on. Charge whoever is responsible if necessary but don't leave the investors hanging. They deserve better. - Malaysiakini