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By Esther Ng and Linette Heng
The New Paper
Saturday, Oct 06, 2012
Empty office: Investors outside the Orchard Towers office of Genneva.
SINGAPORE - Forex trader C.Y. Wong bought $250,000 worth of gold from Genneva, the firm that was raided by authorities on Monday.
But unlike others who bought from the gold trading firm, he is not too worried. He told The New Paper that he is in a "good position" as he had already recouped his investment made two years ago.
Said Mr Wong: "I've collected two years' of discount and generally after one year, you're in a good position.
"Those who've invested less than a year would likely be at a loss," he said.
Mr Wong, who also trades in gold, told TNP that under the scheme, Genneva would sell the gold at 20 to 30 per cent higher than the market rate to customers, with the undertaking that it would pay a monthly payment of 2 per cent of the value of their investment for a given period of time.
Eventually, this would work out to be higher than the amount they initially paid.
Genneva also guarantees that it will buy the gold back at the price at which they sold it initially after the pre-agreed term expires.
But some investors now claim the monthly payments have been delayed.
They have formed a group to take legal action against Genneva.
The Genneva Singapore Complain Group posted on fuckwarezone forum that they were "extremely disgruntled" over the company's "consistent delays" and not meeting its financial obligations to its clients for months, while launching new promotions as recently as last month to attract more people to invest.
"There were delays in paying us the discount - the 2 per cent monthly payments. They said that was because they were changing the system, but I felt they were just coming up with excuses," investor B.L. Tan, 30, a sales executive, told this newspaper.
CAD raided offices
The Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) raided Genneva's offices on Monday.
Officers were seen taking cardboard boxes and computer hardware from the firm's eighth-floor premises in Orchard Towers.
There was no notice as to when the office would re-open.
Retiree B. Tang, 58, an investor, was spotted outside the deserted Genneva office when TNP visited Orchard Towers yesterday afternoon.
He declined to reveal how much he had invested, but he said he had received about $1,000 every month for the past three months. He had invested in May.
But Monday's raid has put a stop to these payouts.
Said Mr Tang: "I knew this was a risky scheme. On hindsight, it was a bit stupid. "Thankfully I can deal with this loss of money. I still own a home. It was money that I was willing to invest and lose.
"I feel pity for those who may have lost a lot of money but need the money for medical expenses and so on."
Mr Tang added he was not going to take legal action as he saw no point in it.
Lawyer R. Nandakumar from RHTLaw Taylor Wessing told TNP that the likelihood of customers suing Genneva to get their money back would depend on the "nature of the agreement that the customer enters into with the company".
"If there are obligations to make certain payments and the company defaulted on the payments, then a contractual claim may arise," he said.
Mr Wong told TNP that there was hope for investors who were still holding on to their gold bars as they could sell them in the market.
In Malaysia, hundreds of investors gathered at Genneva's headquarters in Petaling Jaya and its office in Penang demanding answers, after the Malaysian police and financial regulators raided the firm, acting on numerous complaints by investors.
Quote
"I knew this was a risky scheme. On hindsight, it was a bit stupid. ... I feel pity for those who may have lost a lot of money but need the money for medical expenses and so on." - Mr B. Tang
Consultants and customers crowding outside Genneva Malaysia Sdn Bhd at Kuchai Enterpreneurs Park after the company was temporarily closed for investigations,
The New Paper
Saturday, Oct 06, 2012
MALAYSIA - Over in Malaysia, hundreds of investors gathered at Genneva's offices in Petaling Jaya (PJ) near Kuala Lumpur and Penang on Tuesday demanding answers.
A raid was conducted on the company's headquarters in PJ the day before by the police, Bank Negara Malaysia, the Companies Commission of Malaysia and the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Affairs Ministry.
A statement would be issued only after investigations are completed, said a Bank Negara Malaysia spokesman.
Be careful
"There is nothing wrong with gold trading, but we want investors to be careful against those promising high returns," the spokesman told The Star.
Bank Negara Malaysia is the lead agency heading the operations and investigations. Over the past four months, the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Affairs Ministry had received numerous complaints from investors who had allegedly lost their investments.
Sources connected with the raids said the company was being investigated for offences under money-laundering and deposit-taking laws.
PETALING JAYA - The police, Bank Negara, the Companies Commission of Malaysia and the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism jointly raided gold trading firm Genneva Malaysia Sdn Bhd and its affiliates in the country for various suspected offences.
Singapore's Commercial Affairs Department also conducted a similar operation against Genneva Pte Ltd in the republic.
In a statement released yesterday, Bank Negara said the raid was to probe suspected offences under the laws administered by the agencies.
"The public is advised to be cautious in investing money to avoid becoming victims of activities that are illegal and in breach of the law," the statement read.
The website for Genneva Malaysia remained accessible providing visitors with information on the company's background and contact details, among others.
The firm's Singapore portal, however, was not fully accessible.
The website for the Genneva Pte Ltd at http://www.genneva.com.sg/, takes visitors to a single page with the message that reads: "Work in progress, to ensure all obligations to our customers and consultants are met."
The message urged for calm and cooperation during "these trying times as we work out amicable solutions for everyone".
Genneva Singapore's Facebook stated: "Pray for positive outcome while the new management is working round the clock to solve problems."
Meanwhile, several clients and gold traders of the company cried foul over the raid.
A trader, who only wished to be known as Nick, said money earned from the purchase and sale of gold had helped fund his son through university.
"There has never been any complaint by the clients. The company has helped the livelihood of thousands of people. Why are the authorities interfering in a legitimate business?" he asked.
Another trader, S. Shanti, said the money from her buying and selling of gold, which she stressed was done with the relevant documentation and tax deductions, had helped pay for her mother's dialysis weekly treatment costing RM1,000 over the past three years.
"If they put a stop to this company, how am I going to foot the expensive bill for my mother's health?" she asked outside the company's office in Jalan Kuchai Maju 6.
She was among 100 customers, aged between those in their 20s and 70s, who had gathered at the office in support of Genneva after hearing of the raid yesterday afternoon.
They hoped that the authorities would complete the investigations and leave the company alone after that.
It was learnt that Bank Negara held a briefing with all the other agencies in Putrajaya at 8am before the simultaneous raids were conducted.
Staff at the Jalan Kuchai Lama office had their statements recorded until about 9pm before they were allowed to leave.
Officers at the scene were tight-lipped over the operation. However, they were seen carting away documents and files from the two premises located opposite each other.
As of 9.30pm, Bank Negara officers were still going through the records while customers of the company waited.
