Tackle money game menace fast, advises economist
AN economist has urged the government to clamp down on money games fast, warning that it is the bane of the economy that not only affects individuals but also society.
Likening it to a spark that can destroy a forest, Lee Heng Guie of the Social Economic Research Centre of the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia said money games are quite rampant in Malaysia, with the amount of money involved snowballing.
The government should not take it lightly but take appropriate measures like getting Bank Negara Malaysia, the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry and police to carry out a three-pronged investigation and crack down on money game activities before they spiral out of control.
“This is not scaremongering as the prevalence of pyramid scams in Albania from 1996 to 1999 had brought down its government,” Lee was quoted as saying in a report in Sin Chew Daily yesterday.
“As such, our government should intervene early and investigate the people behind money game activities.”
He said the promise of high returns by pyramid schemes generates the money game fever, with many investors throwing in their life savings.
Lee pointed out that when the pyramid schemes in Albania collapsed in 1999, angry protesters robbed banks and burned buildings, resulting in the death of thousands of people.
He said funds invested in money games could be better used in other stable and long-term investment programmes, small businesses or children’s education.
He said if people think they can make a quick buck from high-yield investment schemes, they risk losing all their investment.
When the number of these scams mushrooms and enforcement is lacking, the public will lose confidence in law enforcement agencies, he said.
Lee pointed out that the biggest loophole at present is that the agencies have to wait for a report to be lodged or when a huge number of people have their “fingers burnt” before they would they step in.
He said if there are shortcomings and weaknesses in our present legal system, the government should amend the law to give enforcement agencies more power to bring operators of money game scams to book.