KUALA LUMPUR: Securities Commission investigators probing the Swisscash scam had spent two years painstakingly recording statements from victims and sifting through mountains of paperwork.
They even had to go overseas to carry out surveillance on the main suspects.
In the end, their diligent work paid off as the recent landmark court order against three people to compensate victims of the scam to the tune of US$83 million (RM286.17 million) showed.
The case began in mid-2006 when the SC received a complaint from a victim of the scam.
The report was referred to the SC Investor Affairs and Complaints Department.
Swisscash fund is an investment programme offered through the Internet and local agents.
It had neither been approved nor endorsed by the Securities Commission or Bank Negara Malaysia.
Investigators made site visits for intelligence gathering and also to ascertain if the proprietors had the proper documents and licences to operate.
At the same time, they also ascertained the main players involved in the business.
The initial stages of the probe revealed that Swisscash was offering fund management services, taking money from investors and promising to invest in various high yielding investment funds with up to 300 per cent returns.
However, the company was breaching security laws as it did not possess the proper documents or licences to operate.
Activities involving securities, equities or fund management come under the purview of the SC.
When investigations revealed that funds contributed by an undisclosed number of victims ran into millions of ringgit, the Investor Affairs and Complaints Department passed the case to the SC Prosecution and Investigation Department.
Investigators then began due diligence on the case.
They began interviewing various victims who had parted with their hard-earned cash.
They also ran background checks on the main players involved.
"Swiss Mutual Fund was not licensed or exempted from licensing by Bank Negara Malaysia to accept deposits, nor was it licensed by the Securities Commission to carry out asset management activities or investment advisory services in Malaysia," the source said.
"Many people were so swayed by greed and promises of lucrative returns that they did not do their own checks to ascertain if the company making such promises was actually authorised to conduct such activities."
Sources disclosed that investigators also made several trips abroad as part of surveillance operations and to monitor the actions of the main suspects and the flow of cash.
"Cash contributed by victims of the scam was being funnelled to bank accounts abroad and investigators had to sift through mountains of paperwork to trace the money.
"Cooperation was sought from various agencies abroad as it had become a transnational case with the main suspects constantly travelling and cash being transferred to foreign accounts."
In July last year, the SC obtained a worldwide Mareva injunction against persons involved in the Swisscash investment scam, preventing them from disposing assets in and outside Malaysia.
Seen as a milestone enforcement action against investment scams, the SC also announced that it had blocked access to two other websites offering illegal investment schemes.
The Mareva injunction restrains and prohibits the defendants from carrying on the business of Swisscash, targeting, soliciting and collecting funds from the public for investments in Swisscash or any other Internet investment scheme.
The defendants also cannot host or operate the Swisscash websites or operate any other such websites which solicit investments for Swisscash or any other Internet investment scheme.
In September last year, the SC won a court order to transfer RM35 million accumulated under the Swisscash scam back to Malaysia.
The money was being held in six bank accounts in Hong Kong and eight in Singapore.
"As Swisscash had turned out to be a worldwide scam that operated using the Internet, the SC worked closely with regulators from seven other countries to combat these illegal activities.
"The cross-jurisdictional collaboration between so many agencies also helped to unearth valuable information that has helped investigators in the course of their probe," the source said.
Now that the judgement has been delivered, the SC is liaising with authorities from other countries with different jurisdictions and legal processes, to trace and repatriate the monies back to Malaysia.
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