TWO SABAHANS DETAINED IN GET-RICH-QUICK SCAM

THE police have detained two Sabahan suspects believed to be involved in an international get-rich-quick investment scam amounting to RM300 million in Malaysia.

Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib yesterday said the police were still continuing investigations into the case.

He said the case had been handed over to the police headquarters in Bukit Aman as it involved a large number of victims.

The Sabah Commercial Crime Unit is rendering its full cooperation to Bukit Aman police headquarters in probing the scam, said Hamza.

Sabah Democratic Action Party (DAP) advisor Hiew King Cheu revealed last year that more than 30,000 investors, including many from Sabah, had been duped into investing their money in the scheme operated through the Internet which promised high returns in just a short period of time.

Investors are believed to have suffered losses amounting to RM300 million in the scam, when the operators of the scheme suddenly closed their website on the Internet soon after the devastating Tsunami hit Japan about a year ago.

Last year, more than 20 investors here sought assistance from Hiew, who is a member of parliament here, to bring up their predicament to the attention of the higher authority.

It is learned that the scheme started in New Zealand in 2009, and when an investigation was carried out in New Zealand, the scam shifted to other countries such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, China and Malaysia.

Hiew added that a local company was set up in Sabah in 2010 to lure local investors with the promise of hefty returns.

However, the company which operated from a shoplot in Karamunsing suddenly ceased its operation and the operators, including the mastermind of the scam, went missing after a year. It is further understood that the mastermind is a local from Sabah.

During a press conference yesterday, Hamza reminded the people not to succumb to greed as there was no short cut to getting rich.

“Many victims fall into scams because of greed,” he cautioned.