I am an investor who has invested in a land banking project with X. Despite my investments maturing, X has not paid me the interest or the exit price. They keep postponing the issue by responding to my queries only verbally (nothing concrete in writing). If possible I would like to join other such investors in any class action suit that might be in the offing.
I must also add that I called CAD branch of Singapore police to report the obvious irregularities at X in their misrepresentation of their products to their clients. CAD officer directed me to a lawyer (who as you know charge anywhere from $600-$900 per hour).
I am not sure who is the right regulatory body in Singapore that will deal with such a case. I am very surprised that a company like X is operating without any check in a place like Singapore and is blatantly treating many its clients with disdain. I was wondering if you could suggest what recourse I can take.
REPLY
It is the duty of the Commercial Affairs Department to investigate if this is a cheating case, especially as they have received a complaint. They cannot just push this matter to the lawyer. I suggest that you see your Member of Parliament.
I believe that some Government officer is monitoring my blog. I hope that this officer will feed back this problem to the top leaders. Things are getting out of hand. Companies are cheating people. The CAD is not investigating.
ReplyDeleteAt least CAD should investigate, and see if any cheating is happening.
Actually it is not wise for ordinary Joes to invest in any manner with any private entity, X, Y or Z, big or small, in a private manner, if you don’t know them well. It is the most financially risky thing to do.
ReplyDeleteEven with established entities like banks, it is not advisable to invest in something you do not really understand as shown in the case of Minibonds.
Investor should follow Mr. Tan's advice, ask for MP's help and keep harping at the CAD to investigate your case. Nowadays institutions are following MAS by passing the problem to someone else. At least stop this Campany from conning other people here. Try writing to the Forum Editor of the Straits Times, and hope that the Editor would publish your plight.
ReplyDeleteI think the best is to write to the newspapers.
ReplyDeletedoes this land banking operte out of china town in singapore? sounds familiar
ReplyDeleteMy mother paid a few thousands dollars to a travel agent located at China town area to book a pair of air tickets. When it was time to collect the tickets, she and many other customers were shocked to see rollers were shut. They were conned! It was reported in the newspapers. My mother reported the case to the Police and the Police advised her to make a magistrate complaint as this was considered as civil case. I am still disappointed that the Police took the stand that it was a civil case and push the ball back to my mum. The fact that there were many other customers like my mum, were conned by the same agent should alert the Police to investigate the matter further. In the meantime, the con man may be back to its modus operandi again, preying the next victims. Common folks like my mum and us do not have the resources to pin down criminal. We are simply hoping the Police can help to do justice for us.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, the matter died down. She has since moved on. "Ching Jiat SWAY!" - a typical helpless response when help did not come !
PG? Profitable Group?any ways land banking has always been very grey, dont understand why people ever do this instead of buying shares.I think if one invest and get con and ask for help, the battle is already lost
ReplyDeleteWhy would a Government officer be monitoring your blog? Is there something political about your blog?
ReplyDeletePlease Mr. Goverment Officer, can you please feedback to the finance ministry to instruct MAS to regulate the market more because too many get-rich schemes are out there sucking blood from Singapore citizens!!
I agree with Mr. Tan. CAD shouldn't just assume that it's a civil dispute and tell the complainant to go find a lawyer. They should first investigate and establish that there're no criminal offences involved, e.g. breach of trust, cheating etc.
ReplyDeleteOne good example for this basic principle of police work is traffic accident involving injury. Every ambulance being called will be accompanied automatically by a call for a police car. The ambulance is there to take care of the injured. The police is there to check whether it's indeed an accident or there's foul play involved.
Make a Police Report:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.spf.gov.sg/epc/ePCLinks.html#
If not happy of Police service, feedback to:
spf_customer_relations_branch@spf.gov.sg
The way the police handled the complaints would definitely encourage more cheating, as the ones who committed the crime knew well that they would not be punished and try again, and others follow too.
ReplyDeleteThe case referred to is definitely not a civil case. I suggest the victim make a complaint again and if the police repeat the same advice, write down his name and see the MP for assistance.
What does it meant "it is a civil case"?
ReplyDeleteWhat exactly is the process flow of the government operations manual in treating unjust commercial transactions such as mentioned above?
I hope the public can be educated on the procedures. I hope that, if passing of the buck happens, it has to be clearly explained by reference to procedure manuals and how follow up will be done, then at least we can work out an amicable solution.
I have absolutely no idea what it means "it is a civil case". We need to understand the detailed procedures.
lesson learned, it is easy to cheat Singaporean's money. It is not becasue Siganporean is stupid as some Taiwannese claimed in the past. It is becasue victim do not have real channel to find the help. There are many places for you to file your complain, but the people in charge only sing the same tone which is pre-recoreded.
ReplyDeleteSome of these Land Banking companies claim a Singapore Quality Class (SQC) certification. I am pretty sure that certification should cover responding to customer complaints in a timely and effective manner and doing what you say in your marketing material. If the company that is failing to respond claims this certification perhaps you should also contact:-
ReplyDeleteOrganisation Excellence Department
SPRING Singapore
Tel: (65) 6279 3811
Email: sqc@spring.gov.sg
I am sure SPRING will want to ensure the integrity of this certification is maintained.
So easy to shout "Got cheated" on Internet anon when lose money. But is it true? Or is it a business deal gone sour?
ReplyDeleteRemember that "cheating" requires the element of "an intention to cheat" to be proved by complainant. So when you go to police, MAS etc, you need to show evidence of this mental intention. Yes very difficult to show this.
Moral -- Don't be greedy.
If police, MAS etc got to investigate every time someone shout "I got cheated", then I will migrate. Taxes will have to go up a lot to investigate every time a greedy person shouts " I got cheated".
when there are many people who complain the same regarding this company, then the intent of the company to act unlawfully becomes clear. How could all the investors who did not get the payout be in the dark if they were not intentionally made to think that way. I think a class action will be a better way to go
ReplyDeleteTo A Tan What i think you are saying is that the difference between and scam and a bad investment is the time it takes to find out that you wont get paid?
ReplyDeleteIf I sell your son or daughter a piece of coal for a S$1,000 and tell you that one day it has the potential to become a diamond I am NOT lying.
Am I cheating if I say how much diamonds are worth today and how rich you could be if you have diamonds ?
If I stand up in court with may hand on my heart and say we are just coal sellers and we never promised anything to anyone?
If I advertise the potential of coal on TV with football players saying how happy they are with their coal?
If I advertise that I estimate, anticipate or expect the conversion to take place in 3 years or less?
If the sales people are paid so much commission that they start talking about the conversion being almost certain within the next 12 months ?
If the newspapers and magazines where i advertise run articles about the pros and cons of coal conversion without ever pointing out its never happened so far and has no chance of happening in any realistic timeframe?
If I promise you 12% a year on the basis of future coal conversions and dont pay you when they dont happen ?
Part of society and community is we need to protect the naive and the uneducated where we can. It is a key rule of common decency that seems to get lost whenever people are offering investment products.
So let me say most UK Land Banking plot schemes are scams. You should assume they are scams until absolutely proven otherwise
“For the cheating to succeed, the victim must have greed in his heart, the greater the better,” he [ retired head of HK cheating syndicate ]said.
ReplyDelete“If he’s honest and not greedy, we cannot swindle him.”
http://www.littlespeck.com/content/lifestyle/CTrendsLifestyle-090912.htm
If you are greedy, you deserve to be cheated.
I am glad that Singaporeans are waking up to the fact that the regulatory bodies and enforcement arms are just doing paper servicing and massaging of statistics. Some years back my bicycle was stolen and I went to make a report. The process worked like this.
ReplyDelete1. Try to dissuade you from making a report by making the process tedious. (This is to make statistics look good as the less is reported, the higher efficiency can be claimed.) I went through the first round by making my way to AMK police station even though I stayed in Yishun.
2. Nothing more was heard after the report until one day I found my bicycle parked at the Yishun MRT station. I called the police and told them this is a good opportunity to ambush the culprit. They told me they do not have the time but I can wait and call them when the culprit appears. A police car then came and proceeded to my surprise to cut the lock and return the bicyle to me after taking down my particulars. I must have looked to passerbys like a bicycle thief with two uniformed police officers taking down my particulars at the busy MRT station. (This would translate to a successful case closed and looked good on the statistics.)
3. A few days later, a police officer appeared at my door and wanted to do a survey on how I rate the police force. (The protocol must be to interview successful cases so it reflects well on statistics the efficiency of the police force).
4. I told the police officer that I felt the way it was done was not good because the person who parked the bicycle may not be the thief and that he would then have to report that his bicylce was stolen at the MRT and that it was an opportunity for the police to investigate and find out the real culprits. (Nothing more was heard after that).
I wonder why they were not free to ambush the culprit and investigate but instead have time to interview me a few days later.
Bicycle thefts are rife and rampant at the MRT stations throughout Singapore and bicycle shops owners have told me that there are bicycle theft syndicates at work. I continue to lose 3 to 4 bicycles a year, even though they have chains as thick as a garden hose and Yale locks. I have stopped reporting to the police the losses and take it as part of the costs involved in cycling in Singapore.
Meanwhile I see CCTVs outside MRT stations to monitor who is parking illegally outside MRT stations but no CCTVs at the bicycle sheds. I believe the police management do not believe the seriousness of the thefts as the statistics do not show such a huge problem, only isolated ones. So the police continue to get praised by the govt for keeping crime in check and the bicycle theft syndicates continue to do a roaring business and ordinary Singaporeans continue to fork out money to live in Singapore.
To A Tan of 5:55PM
ReplyDelete"If you are greedy, you deserve to be cheated."
Does this imply that the authorities don't have to pursue those cheats?
p
To A Tan of 11:27AM
ReplyDelete"If police, MAS etc got to investigate every time someone shout "I got cheated", then I will migrate. Taxes will have to go up a lot to investigate every time a greedy person shouts " I got cheated"."
How do you know that those people complain of got cheated are greedy?
Goodness,
ReplyDeleteReveal the company's name, the project name the investor put money in, any clauses relating to the project/investment, and other info???
It seemed like the intention of this posting is to create a really bad image of land banking firms operating in SG.
I personally profited from such an investment, and this is just a small portion of my portfolio. I have shares as well. As much of a skeptic I was when I was introduced to this concept years ago, I was so happy that it actually negate my loses incurred during the recession period, esp in Jan to May time frame.
Recently a Land banking company had adverts on Sunday Times, no comments about that?
So to the anon poster who mentioned why "must do this (land banking) instead of shares", are you saying that I was stupid and dumb back then to try investing with a land banking firm? I benefited from it, still do actually as I re-invested, along with my other friends. SO if you're so into shares, how was your portfolio doing? got more than 22% over the last half a year? how about the past 2 years?
And the land banking company that Im investing in recently got a video about them for the Asia offices. And the spokesperson in the video is someone most Singaporeans wld have seen or heard of before. From there, I was able to find out that even more local artistes invested with my company. Of course my placements are way smaller than theirs, but I'm sure the celebrities do not have too much cash to spare to invest in such "scamming" schemes right? Sigh, Singaporeans are really good at complaining when it's really their own fault to begin with, lack of due diligence.
Why dont you name your land banking company if you are so happy with them ? No UK Land Banking plots sold in Singapore have been converted for building . So name your great company.
ReplyDeleteyes I think this person who claims to have benefitted from land banking company is a pawn of the company in question. ALso the name of the company is mentioned clearly in the blog if he/she wishes to look carefully.
ReplyDeleteAs for the company that advertises in the newspapers, I guess they are are audited by Price waters and they make that report open to anybody. This other company we are all talking about is a master of deception and would not even return phone calls or give anything in writing forget making their audit report public. Well if they do not honor their own option agreement what else do you need to prove that they are swindlers and nothing else.
As for the allegation that investors are greedy, let me give you a analogy. How many people show up in the malls when a free item like a car or electronic appliance is going to be given away? Is that greed? What is wrong in middle class people trying to get a good deal---if it is clean.
What is the free goods givers now also start charging people huge sums in return for guarantee that they will surely win the item but then at the end of the evening no body wins and the company just collects all the money, says good bye and walks off!! This is what is happening with this compayn---huge misrepresentation and cheating