Dad of man behind troubled JJPTR faces probe at varsity
BNM, Bukit Aman commercial crimes head says no report received from victims of investment scheme despite previous reports stating otherwise.
Despite there being no reported business links between Lee Thean Chye and his 28-year-old son Johnson, the founder of the troubled investment scheme, the management of the Southern University College (SUC) in Skudai, Johor, wants to get a “clearer picture”.
“We will speak to Lee to get a clearer picture of the matter,” SUC vice-chairman Mok Chek Hou was quoted as saying by The Star, adding that the inquiry will be led by SUC principal and president Thock Kiah Wah.
The senior Lee is an associate professor of Business Studies at the SUC, an institute of higher education established in 1990.
According to Mok, Lee also heads SUC’s Entrepreneurial and Finance Centre, and is the SUC acting administration head.
“We have not received any report of students being involved in any money game activities, but we will investigate,” Mok told The Star.
Meanwhile, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) says it has not begun any probe into the JJPTR investment scheme as no report has been filed directly with it. Likewise, it said it had not received the police reports filed by investors so far, Sin Chew Daily reported.
The central bank has the power to act against JJPTR under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act (AMLA) or the Banking and Financial Institutions Act (Bafia).
“Investors must file police reports against the company if they feel they have been cheated.
“This is because, aside from BNM, the police too, can freeze bank accounts of companies or individuals under its criminal investigation into fraud and money laundering,” BNM assistant governor Abu Hassan Alshari Yahaya was quoted as saying by the Chinese-language daily.
Despite police reports filed in Penang since March 21, as stated in a press conference organised by Gerakan on Sunday, Bukit Aman Commercial Crimes Investigations Department director Comm Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said police had yet to receive reports from the investors or victims of JJPTR.
This contradicted earlier reports indicating that police reports were indeed made.
On Sunday, a representative of 107 investors told the media in a press conference at the Gerakan office in George Town, Penang that they had lost RM6 million worth of investments in JJPTR.
“Over 500 people have become victims of the scam and there are still many people out there who have yet to lodge a police report,” Justin Tay said, adding that some had lodged reports at the Jalan Patani police station, Timur Laut, on March 21.
Bernama reported Penang Commercial CID chief ACP Abdul Ghani Ahmad as having confirmed that the reports were received.
Ponzi scheme
Meanwhile, BNM advised investors to always be on the alert for schemes that promised interest rates, returns or profits much higher than those offered by licensed financial institutions for deposits.
Referring to what is known as the “Ponzi” scheme, he said those who run these schemes often used the money received from subsequent depositors to pay the high returns to those who invested earlier.
With the operators of such “Ponzi” schemes unable to obtain the same returns from proper investment avenues, the bottom would eventually fall out of the investment scheme, or the operators would abscond.
“These schemes will fail eventually when there are no more new deposits. The get-rich-quick schemes will then collapse and the depositors or investors will lose their investments,” BNM was quoted as saying.
Over 100 lose RM6 million in Penang scam
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