Man jailed 12 months for swindling funds linked to VenusFX

KUALA LUMPUR: A man was sentenced to a 12-month jail term and fined RM6,000 by the Ampang Magistrate's Court for swindling funds linked to the VenusFX forex scheme.
Earlier, Muhammad Firdaus Md Sham, 31, who is listed as a director of FTX Global Resources, pleaded guilty to the charge under Section 420 of the Penal Code.
He is accused of swindling RM4,000 from IT Consultant Abilash Menon Premakumar on May 6, last year.
The accused is said to have induced the victim to transfer the funds to the company located in Taman Perwira 2, Ampang.
In mitigation, Muhammad Firdaus said he regrets his actions and will not repeat his offence.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Raihanah Abd Razak said although the funds were not credited into his account, he would still have access to the money.
Police investigations showed that VenusFX had cheated a total of 23,259 people, each of whom had "invested" between RM2,000 and RM40,000.
The VenusFX forex scheme syndicate is alleged to have swindled RM80 million from more than 23,000 victims.
Muhammad Firdaus is the first to be charged since police began investigating VenusFX after several reports were made against the foreign currency trading company.