They file police reports claiming to have been lured by the company’s 'gimmicky' events and promises of huge returns.
VIDEO INSIDE
KUALA LUMPUR: A group of 19 Chinese nationals arrived in Malaysia over the weekend to seek help after being allegedly misled into placing their money in an investment scheme by MonSpace (M) Sdn Bhd.
Hailing from different provinces in China, they lodged 19 reports at the Dang Wangi police station here today.
They called on the Malaysian government to investigate and take action against the multinational firm which is based here.
Accompanied by a lawyer and several DAP members, they said MonSpace had promised them huge returns which never materialised.
Speaking to reporters after making his report, Wang Dexiang said he had registered and poured his money in with the hopes of acquiring significant investment returns.
“MonSpace promised me a huge return, up to RM1 million, and claimed that the company will be listed in the US.”
He began placing a monthly deposit of 770 renminbi (RM480) in March last year. The total amount that he had put in came up to 140,000 renminbi (over RM87,000) by March this year.
Another victim, who wanted to be known only as Zou, called on the government to help her get back her funds.
She claimed she gained so much confidence in the scheme that she invited her family members in China to invest as well.
“Most of us invited our relatives to join in the scheme,” Zou said.
She added that they were unable to return to China without seeing returns from their investments.
According to Selangor DAP committee member Ronnie Liu, most of the investors only realised they could have been scammed after a year of involvement.
He alleged that the founder of MonSpace, Jessy Lai, used gimmicks to attract people to invest.
“Jessy Lai would talk about virtual coins and starting a new airline, and have all sorts of gimmicky events to attract people to join,” said Liu, a former state executive councillor.
MonSpace came under scrutiny after the release of Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) updated Financial Consumer Alert list on May 12 revealing several companies and websites which the central bank said were not authorised to receive funds in Malaysia.
MonSpace topped the list of 291 companies.
Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng said BNM’s list proves that the company may be involved in illegal investment activities.
A check by Bank Negara revealed that MonSpace was registered under the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) as a multi-level marketing (MLM) and “e-commerce in good health” business.
The domestic trade, co-operatives and consumerism ministry has no record of issuing any licence to the company.
Lim had asked the government and the Chinese embassy here to probe Lai in July last year.
He claimed that MonSpace used a direct-selling model that imposed a fee of RM500 for “normal members” and RM5,000 for shareholders.
According to him, 90% of MonSpace members were Chinese nationals, with some of them investing millions of renminbi. -FMT
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.