Bernard Madoff Of Malaysia (馬來西亞的馬多夫)

STAR OnLine News
Wednesday July 15, 2009
Woman cons VIPs and artistes of RM432mil
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/7/15/nation/4317195&sec=nation

A WOMAN who is believed to have conned hundreds of VIPs and artistes of RM432mil is now on the police most-wanted list. Her victims include veteran rock singers Amy Search, Hattan and Awie, as well as Misha Omar and the wife of a Tan Sri who lost RM26 mil. Police believe Rohaniza Aladib, 31, has absconded to Australia. Her case as well as statements by several artistes who had fallen victim to her con-game was reported by Harian Metro. Hattan and Awie admitted to having been conned by the woman who always appeared “decent”. Their loss totalled almost RM2mil. Quoting a spokesman from the commercial crime unit in Bukit Aman, the tabloid said Rohaniza lured her victims to part with their money by promising them very high return of up to 50% of their investment within 30 days. As in any scams, her victims would receive the high return as promised on their initial investment, thus encouraging them to “invest” more, including using money collected from friends and family members. Hattan said he initially invested only RM50,000 but after receiving good returns, he increased his investment until it reached a total of RM1.4mil. Awie meanwhile said he lost RM50,000 to the woman who had promised him a return of 30% within 45 days.
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Wow! What a job!

Isn't she qualified as Malaysia's Bernard Madoff with a big haul of RM432million?

She's better than Madoff in a sense that she operated as a non-legalised fund manager outfit whereas Madoff had built up his reputation over the years and had no criminal record before his fall.

On the reverse, she was an ex-convict and she managed to pull the biggest ever con job in the country single-handedly; who say we are short of creative and capable human resources? Only this time, it was for the wrong purpose.

Rohaniza Aladib simply sweet-talked her innocent investors parted their 'hard-earned' money for the unbelievable returns she promised. It shows how easy our Malaysian trusted each other.

The incident also reflects how well-off our Malaysian by the amount involved. Most of her victims are believed to be bumiputras by judging from just a few names mentioned in the press. She had conned hundreds of 'innocent' investors according to the press.

The fact that she could manage to con so many peoples shows that the saving interest rates from the legally approved institutions should be revised up to attract these rich investors, or government should issue bonds for them to invest. The higher interest rate from the bank should eliminate the breeding and growth of illegal schemes in the country.

I hope the 1Malaysia Fund will relieve the worry of those rich investors who are looking for a safer and better investment instrument in the country.

From Bernard Madoff To Our 'Crocs', who are luckier?

"Bernard Madoff gets maximum 150 years in prison"!
By TOM HAYS and LARRY NEUMEISTER, Associated Press Writers Tom Hays And Larry Neumeister, Associated Press Writers – Mon Jun 29, 7:38 pm ET

NEW YORK – A federal judge rejected Bernard Madoff's plea for leniency Monday, sentencing the 71-year-old swindler to spend the rest of his life in prison for an "extraordinarily evil" fraud that took a staggering toll on thousands of victims.
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What's the point of slamming a sentence that will be longer than Madoff can live?

He'd be 221 (year 2159) years by the time his term is expired!

Well, at least, this is what we called justice is done and seen, unlike in our land where the big financial 'crocs' are still free and continuing its rampage.

I'm talking about the scam happened in Sabah almost 10 years ago - the infamous Amanah Saham Sabah. Some people were devastated by the failure who had borrowed from financial institutions with the hope that the return from the investment would bring benefits for them, much like the ASN, the long-running successful unit trust backed by the federal government.

The Saham Sabah also backed by the then government of Sabah, and the Chief Minister (CM) then 'promised' openly to the fellow investors that the investment would be substantial and safe, and urging local investors to put their money on the counter; the result was then sad stories and miseries.

Who should be responsible for this mischief? Who should be answerable for the losses?

Would the CM at the time, the then BN government, or the investors themselves be blamed? According to the little prints on the back of the investment agreement; the investors are taking their own risks to do so. However, those who openly urging people to invest in the Saham Sabah from a high position are now 'disappeared', and the least they should do is to apologise for the unfortunate and 'friendly-misled'. But, no one dared to do so. What they did was finger-pointing each other. The investors can only watch and said: I'll see you in the next election.

There should at least some one responsible for the loss, and accounted for it. But none were singled out. One of the key investors, a State-owned Company, in the Saham Sabah even had parted its good shares for a lousy stock which value was 'artificially' pumped-up that rendered the government lost a lot; of course not accounted for at the end.

No wonder there are so many peoples want to handle the public funds for investment as no one should be haunted by its blunder ness and investment mistakes made with public funds!

Is the government going to dig to the bottom and make the culprits pay for the failure of the Amanah Saham Sabah?

Whose side is the government on when it comes to the financial market matter – The investor or the administrator?

Will we be able to nap someone and make a similar sentence in Malaysia, like they have just done on Madoff?

No.

The lame excuse for not able to do so may have been that our land still short of manpower and experts; furthermore, the laughing part may be we can't afford to nail and execute these culprits, yet.

Our financial and judicial system is simply not efficient enough to cater for all these requirements, and our mechanisms in enforcement are just so happened not good enough to apprehend these culprits.

Our PM Najib just announced a series of good news on the removal of 30% restriction on foreign participation in our economy, and I hope that more foreign capitals under the less restrictive controls does not mean the locals nor foreigners have to be the 'victims' of those dishonest 'crocs'.

The investors will invest in an environment that is fairly monitored and controlled.