SC brings about milestone payout

Victims of the Swisscash investment scam may get some of their money back after the Securities Commission (SC) obtained RM31 million in the largest settlement in its history.

The last major victory in the regulator's civil action was in 2006 when it obtained a RM2.08 million settlement for an insider trading case involving Padiberas Nasional Bhd shares.

"Realistically, we expect the first batch of payments to be made early next year," SC chairman Tan Sri Zarinah Anwar told a media briefing in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

The milestone payout follows a consent judgment made with the two Malaysian defendants in the case, Albert Lee Kee Sien and Amir Hassan.

The judgment marked the culmination of three years intensive efforts by the SC in pursuing the perpetrators, which involved cross-border investigations spanning seven countries and cooperation from foreign regulators.

Some 3,000 people have complained to the SC alleging losses in the scheme, Zarinah said, four-fifths of whom are male professionals.

"There were also housewives, teachers, aunty and uncle investors, but the key profile of victims is not-so-typical," she said.

Investors were lured into this Ponzi scheme of sorts by the extremely high returns promised. The perpetrators also maintained an impressive website and an expensive office address in New York in the US to convince potential investors.

"We want to remind all investors to be vigilant. Not all cases can yield a similar results like this one. You should deal only with the licensed companies," Zarinah said.

The refund will be carried out based on a court-approved distribution plan. Once the court has given its approval, an administrator appointed by the SC will manage the processing of claims.

Only those with sufficient proof of their principal investment and who were not involved in the scam as recruiters are eligible for a refund.

Other criteria include whether the person had invested in the scam despite warnings from the regulators.

By Chong Pooi Koon
Business Times Online
Published: 2009/11/14