SUBANG JAYA: A dubious forex investment scheme has allegedly caused about 400 unsuspecting victims to lose roughly RM100mil collectively, the Malaysia International Humanitarian Organisation (MHO) claims.
MHO secretary-general Datuk Hishamuddin Hashim said 385 police reports have since been lodged nationwide.
“Some reports were investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code while others were referred to other agencies while some classified as 'No Further Action'.
“We are also in the midst of compiling further reports,” he told a press conference here on Tuesday (Aug 20).
Also at the press conference were about 400 victims of the supposed investment scam.
He added that victims lost between RM10,000 to RM100,000 with some losing up to RM1mil.
Hishamuddin also said they would take the victims to Bank Negara to lodge reports in the coming weeks.
“We request for enforcement and investigation authorities such as the police to thoroughly investigate these cases,” he said.
Hishamuddin said the scheme began in 2016 and victims received their due payments up till 2022.
Following 2022, however, the victims did not receive any payments with the alleged operators giving multiple excuses.
Explaining the supposed scam, Hishamuddin alleged that the “platform” was registered with a company in Indonesia, another with the Labuan Financial Services Authority (LFSA) and other private companies registered with the Companies Commission of Malaysia for marketing activities.
“They used two brokers. One was a supposed licensed forex broker based in Indonesia and the other registered in Dubai.
“We believe there are three masterminds.
“We suspect the broker based in Indonesia is the main mastermind, with a Malaysian promoting the activities alongside a Russian acting as a supposed subject matter expert in forex trading,” he said.
He added that victims believed the investment scheme was legitimate due to the presence of the subject matter expert.
“They were promised profits. Some even signed contracts where they were promised monthly returns.
“However, after they put in their capital, they did not have control or access to their funds.
“They just waited for their profits but unfortunately, they were scammed by this syndicate,” he claimed.
“Even after their contracts had ended, they did not receive their returns nor capital,” he added.
Hishamuddin said some of the victims also met with the “mastermind”, adding that their pleas to return the funds invested were not entertained.
He said action could still be taken even if the supposed perpetrators were abroad.
“If there are criminal elements, Malaysia has the legal provisions to prosecute the syndicates even if they run overseas,” he said, citing prosecution in absentia.
“Enforcement agencies can also use Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) to request an extradition,” he said.
