Two men nabbed over RM1.3m get-rich-quick scam

LABUAN: The police have arrested two men, one of them an Indonesian, for allegedly operating a get-rich-quick scheme that has accumulated RM1.3 million over the past four months.
One of the men, a 24-year-old from Menumbok, Sabah, was arrested at 6pm yesterday and the other, a 54-year-old Indonesian living in Labuan, was picked up at 6pm on June 25, Labuan Police chief Supt Muhamad Farid Ahmad said today.
He said the men were arrested by the Labuan Police Commercial Crimes Investigation Department head ASP Haslina Hassan and his team after two people who claimed to have lost RM193,000 and RM10,000, respectively, had lodged police reports.
Muhamad Farid said the 24-year-old man was being held on remand for seven days from today while the Indonesian had been released on bail after being held on remand following his arrest on June 25.
At least 650 people had invested in the scheme and several of them were VIPs, with one of them having the title of 'Datuk Seri', he said at a press conference.
He also said that two vehicles – a Toyota Vellfire and Nissan Fair Lady – bought with cash were expected to be seized from a secret location on the Sabah mainland and brought back to Labuan.
"We have seized three cheques with the amounts totalling RM444,450.00, ATM cards, a company stamp, a cheque book and handphones from the arrested men," he said.
Muhamad Farid said the scheme was run similar to a multi-level marketing format and the recruited downline investors were promised huge returns.
Potential investors were promised that for a minimum investment of RM1,800, they could secure a return of RM1,300 in the following month, he said.
They were also told that a maximum investment of RM37,800 would earn them RM33,000, and that the investment contract was for a period of five to 10 years, he added.
Muhamad Farid also said that the potential investors were duped into believing that the scheme was similar to bitcoin trading and the yield or output could be in any of a number of currencies. — Bernama