Swisscash A.K.A Swiss Mutual Fund at Singapore News

Business Times - 01 Oct 2007

MALAYSIA INSIGHT
Kudos to SC for action against scammers Strong message sent to crooks who prey on gullible

By S JAYASANKARAN
KL CORRESPONDENT

IN a landmark event, a sum of RM35 million (S$15.3 million) will be transferred back to Malaysia this Friday from six bank accounts in Hong Kong and eight bank accounts in Singapore. The money was ill-gotten, having been obtained by defrauding people, mostly Malaysians, through an Internet scam called Swisscash.

The Securities Commission (SC), Malaysia's markets regulator and the authority responsible for the funds' return, described the latest development as a 'breakthrough'.

To recapitulate, the regulator moved against the Malaysian promoters of a scam Internet website that promised investors an astonishing 300 per cent return over 15 months. The so-called 'Swiss Mutual Fund or Swiss Cash', according to its legend over the site, had been set up in 1948 by the Cheviot family of France and been operated out of Berne, Switzerland until it moved, in 1996, to the Dominican Republic, ostensibly for tax reasons.

There was only one problem with that: the Swiss Embassy in Malaysia professed ignorance about the Cheviot family and said it didn't have the faintest idea about such a business. According to affidavits filed in the High Court of Malaya, the websites, which are global because of the borderless nature of the Internet, may have collected as much as US$83 million from gullible investors in Malaysia, especially, and others from places like Hong Kong and Singapore.

The SC contended that these sites ran afoul of Malaysian laws (fund management and investment advice are businesses that have to be licensed), including anti-money-laundering rules. In addition, they may have been flouting banking laws as well for accepting deposits without a licence.

In any case, the regulator filed civil suits against the websites' promoters and, pending the outcome of the full trial, successfully froze 22 Malaysian bank accounts of the promoters' and their companies holding almost RM3 million.

But the authority went one better this time, extending its reach across its borders and illustrating, quite magnificently, the respect for the rule of law in countries like Singapore and Hong Kong.

What the Securities Commission did was to secure a global Mareva injunction against the scam's promoters pending the outcome of the legal action against them. The action is against three individuals and four companies controlled by them.

Another bank account on the Isle of Jersey holding more than US$1.7 million has also been frozen pending separate investigations on the promoters by the authorities there. Presumably, this money will be the next to be brought back home.

This exercise essentially means the commission is opting for civil remedies instead of criminal prosecutions. That is good as such prosecutions - especially those involving complex commercial litigation - have been tedious, consuming of time and taxpayers' money, and rarely successful. The only successes, if at all, have been those where the defendants pleaded guilty to lesser charges and were wrist-slapped through fines.

Civil proceedings are faster and, in many ways, hit the wrongdoers where it hurts the most: their wallet. Freezing bank accounts and getting monies back compels those affected to fight their cases with urgency.

The action taken by the SC sends a strong message to white-collar miscreants who prey on the gullible. That is absolutely great.

source : http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/news/story/0,4574,250935,00.html?

Note : If you want your money back. Try contact this :

Swisscash victims, it's true, the Msian Sec Comm (MSC) has obtained a court order for the transfer of RM35m of Swisscash money in foreign bank accounts to Malaysia. If the MSC wins the case against Amir Hassan, Albert Lee et al, the cash will be distributed to Swisscash victims.

If you want to get on that list of victims, your best bet would be to contact the MSC. Details here, as found on their website:

Investor Affairs & Complaints Department
Securities Commission
No 3 Persiaran Bukit Kiara
Bukit Kiara
50490 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 603 6204 8999
Fax: 603 6204 8991
E-mail: aduan@seccom.com.my

Source : http://www.worldlawdirect.com/forum/showthread.php?t=683&page=105