Investors hope to get money back following arrests

GEORGE TOWN: Investors hoped that police could shed more light and recover money they entrusted to controversial foreign exchange trading company JJ Poor To Rich (JJPTR).

Siblings Tan Mei Yun, 45, and Tan Mei Siew, 47, said excuses given by JJPTR founder Johnson Lee on why investors were not paid the promised returns were “suspicious”, and expressed relief that police are now involved.

Mei Siew, who invested RM40,000 in the scheme, said she found it hard to believe the claim made by Lee that he lost US$400 million (RM1.73 billion) after the firm’s accounts were hacked.

“A company that operates a multimillion dollar business would surely be equipped with security measures to stave off hackers.”

Mei Yun said she hoped police could trace the money and return it to investors. She invested RM25,000 into the scheme.

Checks by the New Straits Times at one of its offices in Jalan Perak here yesterday showed that it had been closed.

Neighbouring business operators claimed the office had been closed since last Friday after several workers were taken in following a raid by Bukit Aman Commercial Crimes Investigation Department (CCID), Bank Negara Malaysia and Companies Commission of Malaysia.

A food operator, two shops away, said she had not seen any workers at the office since last Friday’s raid.

“Also, I hardly see any investors coming to the office to make enquiries these days,” she said.

State police chief Datuk Chuah Ghee Lye said police were still awaiting details of the investigation from Bukit Aman following the arrest of Lee, his right-hand man and personal assistant in an operation in Petaling Jaya yesterday.

Asked if more raids would be conducted, he said it all depended on the investigation led by the federal police’s CCID.

In Kuantan, Indera Mahkota MCA Youth chief Quek Tai Seong said businessmen and land developers were among individuals from Pahang who had invested with JJPTR.

Quek said frustrated investors had contacted him over the past few days seeking answers on the future of the scheme and their investments.

“People have been asking me what should they do, and my advice was simple: Lodge a report.

“However, many seemed reluctant to do so and hoped to regain their money,” said Quek.

“Even when they were reminded to be wary of such schemes, there are some who were prepared to invest in other schemes, saying if they were among the early investors, they stand a higher chance to gain profit before anything happens to the business.”