SwissCash Lesson

KUALA LUMPUR: Tony (not his real name) had a successful job as an broadcasting executive with a reputable firm and was preparing to tie the knot with his childhood sweetheart.

"In January 2006, a colleague of mine bought a brand-new BMW 740Li worth almost RM800,000.

"We were amazed at how he could afford it, given that we were all on more or less the same salary scale," Tony told the New Straits Times.

"When we asked him how he could afford to purchase the car, he took us out for a meal and proceeded to tell us about the Swisscash investment programme and how he had profited from it."

According to Tony, his colleague had been among the early birds who had signed up with the investment programme when it was introduced and thus been able to earn 20 per cent every month with the promise of 300 per cent returns after 450 days.

"After hearing him rave about Swisscash and the amazing returns he had enjoyed after signing up for a mere six months, it started me thinking.

"I was going to marry my childhood sweetheart in January 2007 after five years of courtship and dating. And I wanted to make our honeymoon especially memorable for the both of us.

"I started to do some homework on Swisscash and discovered they invested in securities and equities in foreign stock markets.

"It never occurred to me to check whether the company had been licensed by the authorities to operate.

"After several days of contemplation, I decided to put an initial investment of RM10,000 into Swisscash."

It was all good for the first four months as Tony received RM2,000 every month.

He then decided to put his returns back into Swisscash.

Two months later, Tony managed to persuade his fiancee to invest the RM50,000 they had set aside for their wedding, although she initially had reservations. She gave in as he wanted to make enough money to take her to Europe on their honeymoon.

In August 2006, Tony checked his Swisscash account and noted with satisfaction that 20 per cent of his total investment had been credited.

To celebrate, he took his fiancee for a romantic dinner.

The next month, the troubles began when a report was lodged with the Securities Commission. After a warning was jointly issued by the SC and Bank Negara Malaysia, Tony began to have doubts.

He issued instructions for the money in his Swisscash account to be transferred to his bank account and was told it would be done in a week. It was not.

After several weeks and attempts to get the money transferred, Tony's calls went unanswered and a visit to the company's office revealed it had been closed.

The couple were married in January last year. The lovebirds had to borrow money from their parents for the wedding and dinner.

When he learnt of the latest court order against the three defendants to compensate victims of the scam, Tony could only say: "This was a valuable lesson for me not to be greedy."