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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| 8,000 fall for get-rich scam |
| 2010-01-31 |
| [Straits Times] ABOUT 8,000 people across Malaysia have fallen prey to a get-rich-quick scam that promised returns of as much as 500 per cent on their investments. They suffered losses of millions of ringgit after investing in a company which convinced them that it was a profit-making junket operator. Junket operators are middlemen who, for a fee, bring in high rollers from all over the world to casinos' VIP tables. The company claimed it was also paid commissions each time the high rollers bought chips to gamble. Up to 30 per cent of the commissions was to be shared among the investors, according to two victims who claimed they were cheated of about RM4.5 million (S$1.8 million) by the company. Former manufacturing manager R. Prakash, 46, who lost about RM3 million, said that in the beginning the company paid investors the returns as promised. This prompted him to increase his investment amount and persuade his friends to join the scheme, he said at a press conference at the Consumers Association of Penang office here last Friday. 'Everything seemed genuine and I even went on 10 free trips to Macau from the time I joined in December 2008 to September last year. Everything was complimentary, from the food to the lodging,' he said. 'I also received gifts such as Rolex watches, diamond rings and bracelets as inducements to make me invest even more,' he said. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 No sympathy for the idiots. "If it seems too good to be true, it |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2010-01-31 08:50 |
| #2 ...or "derivatives". |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2010-01-31 08:37 |
| #1 I see the word "Ponzi" was not translated properly. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2010-01-31 02:13 |