11 hours ago
Limbang woman claims ‘family friend' fleeced her of RM200,000 in bogus franchise deal
Chung shows the police report against the family friend. – Photo by Mastura Ismail
MIRI (June 17): A woman in Limbang has filed a police report claiming she lost RM200,000 through a bogus business partnership with a male friend known to her and her family for over a decade.
Zlice Chung Li Mian, 26, claimed she was tricked into parting with the hard-earned family savings for the purported business venture last year.
Chung said she did not expect her friend, who was close to her family, to cheat them and disappear without a trace.
The purported scam occurred around February last year after she had a face-to-face meeting with the 28-year-old on opening a franchise business in Lawas.
'The individual proposed to form a company with me and used the name for licence registration process.
'I also signed an agreement and made several payments to the account provided by the individual as capital, including the rental payment for the premises in Lawas and payments that were said to be for stock purchases,' she told the media today.
After making several transactions, Chung finally realised she had been scammed after learning of unfavourable information related to the individual.
'As a result of the ensuing investigation, I found that the snack shop that was supposed to open in Lawas actually did not exist, and the individual also failed to show any proof of the existence of the premises despite being asked to do so repeatedly.
'I asked my family members to investigate the actual location of the said premises and found that it was actually a vegetable shop in Lawas,' she said.
A check with the franchise head office in Peninsular Malaysia found there was no franchisee in Lawas and that the company's licence registration status was also false.
'The results of my check with the bona fide agent revealed that no licence application was made by the individual on my behalf.
'Several invoices using the name of a snack shop in Lawas and the company used were also found to be bogus,' she said.
Chung said she and her family were shocked by the scam and the audacity of the perpetrator, which caused them to lose RM200,000 of the family's savings.
A police report was lodged on May 29 at the Limbang District police headquarters.
'I am indeed very sad, disappointed, and angry for believing in someone I have known since secondary school, who is very close to my family,' she said.
Chung believes there could be others who have fallen victim to the individual's deception.
'I am determined to file a police report so that he will be dealt with strictly according to the law and will no longer be free to deceive others elsewhere,' she added. Lawas lead Zlice Chung Li Mian
