Mr. Wong (not his real name) invested over $1 million in the gold bar scheme of the gold trading company that was recently in the news. It represented his entire life savings. He was not aware that the company was on the MAS Alert List. He stopped receiving payment and, to make matters worse, he had deposited his gold bars with the company. He is afraid that his entire savings would be gone. Mr. Wong asked for my advice on the steps that he should take now.
I told Mr. Wong that he should make a Police report. This report may be useful to the Commercial Affairs Department, as they had recently started to investigate the company.
I told Mr. Wong that there is no point to engage a lawyer at this stage, as he would be incurring legal fees and, even if he obtained judgment against the gold trading company, they would probably ignore the judgment.
Other investors in the same situation as Mr. Wong should lodge their Police report as soon as possible, unless they are informed by CAD that this is not necessary.
I told Mr. Wong that he should make a Police report. This report may be useful to the Commercial Affairs Department, as they had recently started to investigate the company.
I told Mr. Wong that there is no point to engage a lawyer at this stage, as he would be incurring legal fees and, even if he obtained judgment against the gold trading company, they would probably ignore the judgment.
Other investors in the same situation as Mr. Wong should lodge their Police report as soon as possible, unless they are informed by CAD that this is not necessary.
Here is a report from Malaysia about the probe by the authority. The return promised to investors are not sustainable and do not come from trading. They come from the capital put in by the investors. In essence, it is a Ponzi scheme.
ReplyDeletehttp://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/10/11/nation/12156728&sec=nation
According to Wealthwire Investing News, metals investment experts stress keeping physical metals, like coins and bars at your own home with security precautions like a safe in a discreet place. Never place in a bank deposit box or in a commercial storage place or with other people.
ReplyDeleteGreat advice, when you think about DBS Bank opening a client's deposit box in her absence, or our Temasek Holding's CISCO where thefts are committed by internal staff mostly Malaysians, or in a so called Gold Trading Company like Genneva.
Nonetheless, it's incredible this Mr. Wong could trust $1m of his entire savings with strangers in a Gold Firm, so trusting that he even placed his physical gold with them.
With even CNBC reporting Singapore being the 2nd Asian wealthiest and 8th wealthiest country in the world, welcome to new frontier cowboy town, Singapore, with predators on the prowl,zeroing on naive and trusting Singaporeans to part with their money.
With America as a mirror to watch, it's irresponsible to believe in the wisdom of market forces as a Regulator in anything connected with finances, without Govt interventions.
Very sad indeed. I know how they feel as I was an investor of DBS's HN5.
ReplyDeleteI hope those investors can group together and act as a group. I believe they can recover a big portion of their investment as Bank Negara Malaysia discover the scam before the whole scheme collaspe.
Below is another reason why people stay away from FIs and RMs. All they think about is their commision.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/49368892
Mr Wong should try to sue to get back his gold bars, it is better for him to hold it for a few more years to recoup the markup costs as gold is likely to reach much higher prices in the next few years during the bull run. It is unlikely he will be able to sue the company to get back he money he invested as the company as you say is ponzi so is not likely to have enough cash.
ReplyDeleteI invested $80k in OCBC-recommended Asian Technologies unit trust & lost almost $40k. The executive who sold it to me laughed all the way to the bank & I have been crying since!
ReplyDeleteOCBC shud be ashamed for selling such screw up product and getting its name stenched!