Agonising wait for JJPTR investors

GEORGE TOWN: Investors in troubled high-yield investment scheme JJ Poor To Rich (JJPTR) are growing tired of promises by the company that their capital will be returned.

One of them, a housewife who wished to be identified as Goh, 40, said she has RM10,000 invested in the scheme and was still waiting for the money to be returned to her.

“I need to support my children and family,” she said, adding that she will not put her money in such schemes in future.

Factory worker Boon Seng, 32, told theSun he has yet to receive any payment.

He said he could only wait as the RM4,800 he invested would be returned in stages.

Meanwhile Guang Ming Daily reported that JJPTR founder Johnson Lee has not been threatened by anyone after the scheme collapsed.

He said this shows members still have confidence in JJPTR and believed he was able to resolve the issue.

“Members can go to the office to fill up forms or do it online, but none of them have come to my house or my relatives to ask for their capital back,” he said.

Lee was quoted as saying he would not waste time facing the media but would focus on returning the principal amount to members.

He said members will be informed of developments via Facebook and social messaging app WeChat.

Meanwhile, police in Penang have only received one report lodged against JJPTR.

State Commercial Crime chief ACP Abdul Ghani Ahmad said the report was lodged by a down-line member of the scheme.

He said investigations were underway but declined to say if Lee will be brought in for questioning.

He said whether Lee would have his statement recorded depended on the investigations, but did not elaborate.

The scheme is under scrutiny after the company claimed its trading account was hacked, resulting in losses of RM500 million.

In video posts on Facebook, Lee has promised to return the capital of investors while JJPTR has since launched a new scheme promising returns of 35%, higher than the previous 20%. – by Edmund Lee and Lee Hooi Boon