All That Glitters Is Ponzi

All that glitters is not gold” is the lesson learnt by a single mother who asked to be identified only as Fatimah. The chef was among those who got duped by a company that came under the scrutiny of Bank Negara in 2011, allegedly for dubious gold trading.

The company was investigated for breaching banking and financial regulations, including illegal deposit taking, money laundering and tax evasion following complaints of suspicious gold trading activities.

In 2012, the central bank raided the company and froze its accounts and other assets, and seized some gold bars. Fatimah, 56, lost RM45,000, a sum that she had been trying to grow for her daughter’s higher education.

It was a portion of her life savings and her late husband’s Social Security Organisation payout. She was supposed to receive some gold bars two weeks after she invested the money but the authorities raided the firm before she got them.

“A close friend of mine was an agent. She kept pestering me for a year to invest but I always said no. “Some in my family invested and got their gold bars and returns. It was very unfortunate for me,” she said before warning: “Remember, if it is too good to be true, stay away.”