Sabah victims yet to come forward: Cops
Published on: Friday, July 29, 2016
Kuala Lumpur: A disturbing number of teachers who got trapped in the "get-rich-quick" scheme went on leave to recruit others from the teaching profession to boost their returns, said police. The teachers even went to the extent of ignoring classes during normal hours. These teachers were lured to the scheme by the masterminds – two teachers who posed as a "Datuk" and "Datuk Seri". The ringleaders found it easy to recruit the teachers to invest in the scheme that promised large returns over a short period.
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Federal Commercial Crime Director Datuk Seri Mortadza Nazarene said most of the 175 police reports were made by teachers. He said several teachers were among 14 people, aged 28 to 58, arrested last week in the illegal venture that chalked up more than RM50 million since last year. "The recruited teachers, who did not suspect anything amiss, then recruited other teachers to join the scheme which works as a multi-level marketing concept," he said. Mortadza said initial investigation showed that the suspects had lured close to half a million members through seminars, and losses are estimated to be close to RM 50 million.
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He said the first report was lodged in January and the highest amount of losses reported was by a 54-year-old man from Gua Musang who lost close to RM200,000. However, police believe there are more victims who may have incurred larger losses but have yet to lodge a police report.
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"The victims lodged a report after they realised they received no large returns as promised. We believe there are victims in Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei, who have yet to come forward," he said. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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