Greedy or gullible?

 Mariam Mokhtar

The British investors who claim that they are the victims of a fraudulent business deal, allegedly perpetrated by a former Umno Baru treasurer, now know how the rest of Malaysia feels.

Calling themselves the British Victims of Investing in Malaysia (BVIM), they staged two protests outside London’s Excel Centre to urge Najib Abdul Razak to speed up the investigation into their plight.

It is a staggering loss for the investors who were defrauded of several millions of ringgit. Some of them lost their life savings.

For decades, many Malaysians have lost their livelihoods, their way of life and for those who were denied an education, their futures. Many have also paid with their lives, including one Mongolian model who was brutally murdered. Malaysians feel betrayed by a government which professes to look after their interests, but is self-serving.

The BVIM saga started in 2008, when the investors were allegedly approached by a representative from Doxport Technologies Sdn Bhd, whose chairperson and director, at the time, was the Umno Baru treasurer Abdul Azim Mohd Zabidi.

In late 2008 and early 2009, the BVIM invested US$4 million in Doxport Technologies, to purchase six VOIP Telecom switches and equity in the company.

By 2011, having discovered that the switches were not operating in Malaysia and with no return on their investments, the BVIM lodged reports with the police, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commissions (MCMC) and the Company Commissions Malaysia (CCM). They alleged that Doxport had used fraudulent invoices and documents to misappropriate the funds.

To date, only one suspect has been interviewed by the police and the Money Laundering Investigation Division has shown little vigour in pursuing the allegation.

Like the BVIM, many Malaysians are frustrated that the avenues for recourse are limited and constrained by political machinations. Many people do not trust the police and others believe that justice only benefits the highest bidder. In a climate of fear and mistrust, Malaysians are resigned to suffering in silence. It is high time they became more vocal.

The BVIM and overseas Malaysians are able to organise demonstrations, but many Malaysians in their homeland do not have that privilege. If they were to attend a march, they may face water cannons, tear gas, beatings and arrest. The Penans of Sarawak fare worse and are often subjected to violent retaliation. In the isolated interior, their plight is highlighted only if people are brave enough to smuggle their story to the outside world.

Malaysians joining protests in overseas locations face subtle intimidation, with Special Branch operatives masquerading as protesters, collating information, whilst their colleagues take videos and snapshots of the participants. ‘Big Brother’ Malaysia-style is well and truly alive. It is a mockery for Foreign Minister Anifah Aman to tell his counterparts not to spy on their “friends”.

The plight of the BVIM raises many questions. How were these victims defrauded? Why did they part with their money, so easily? At least one man lost his life savings. Another was enchanted by his experience on a package holiday to Malaysia, and he, too, fell for the investment scam.

It reminds one of the tragic tales of lonely middle-aged women who go on holiday, and are seduced by attentive suitors, on the beach. They marry and find that they are later fleeced of their life savings.

‘Conmen target greedy people’

Some people have little sympathy for the BVIM and feel that they deserved their fate. One cynic said, “Experienced conmen know that honest people are not vulnerable. The conmen target greedy people who want to make a fast buck. They fall for the promise of wealth beyond their dreams.”

The BVIM are not the first, nor will they be the last, to be swindled by Malaysian con artists, who mask themselves with a veneer of respectability, to dupe people into parting with their money. They know that first impressions of status and power count.

Will the full story of this alleged fraud ever be known? In our experience, financial abuses or corrupt practices which involve Umno Baru are immediately swept under the carpet.

In several instances, the case was closed because of “lack of evidence”. People in positions of responsibility are found “not guilty”, as in the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) fiasco. In many cases, junior officials are made to be the patsies, then prosecuted and jailed. After a young Mongolian model was murdered, her alleged assailants spent time in jail but were later released.

Does anyone remember the Maminco Tin scandal of the 80s? Or the Perwaja Steel fiasco a decade later? How about the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) fraud of 2011? Or the Genneva gold scandal; the business was launched with much pomp by an ex-PM.

When a court case seems to be going well, there will often be a sudden out-of-court settlement and the villain will escape public scrutiny, to prevent the full extent of the crime from being exposed. This is exactly what happened when a member of the rakyat alleged that the home Minister, Zahid Hamidi, had grievously assaulted him.

In Malaysia, the paper trail in the misappropriation of hundreds of millions of ringgits, is invariably alleged to lead to Umno Baru men and their cronies.

The BVIM have met Najib and some cabinet ministers, and they have the support of several MPs in Britain. Lord Ahmed of Rotherham pleaded with Najib on behalf of the BVIM, but Lord Ahmed is a man with a tainted past. He was jailed when he ran over and killed a man, whilst driving on the motorway and sending a text message. The British papers are full of stories of his other indiscretions.

If memory serves this writer well, this is the same Lord Ahmed who invited Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud to the House of Lords in 2010.

Only the naïve would think that the Malaysian and British MPs will move heaven and earth to force Najib to pressure the police, the MCMC and the CCM to investigate and prosecute. The British MPs would rather fete Najib, to entice him into investing millions of ringgits of the taxpayers’ money in England; money which comes from Felda, EPF and other GLCs.

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MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army and president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO).