With the arrest of Johnson Lee, the cookie seems to have crumbled, leaving investors clueless on what will happen to JJPTR and if they will ever get their money back.
- Arrested and remanded: Johnson Lee Choong Sen, 28, Ooi Yi Shen, 28, Quah Li Chuan, 29
- Investigation on RM56,400 cheating case filed by Klang complainant
- Trio’s lawyer claims money went into a company not under the name of his clients
Controversial forex trading company JJPTR founder Johnson Lee Choong Sen, 28, and his two right-hand men cum personal assistants – Ooi Yi Shen, 28, and Quah Li Chuan, 29, were arrested in a predawn raid this morning.
Police brought the trio to the Klang magistrate’s court at around 2.30 pm where magistrate Nik Nur Amalina Mat Zaidan issued the remand order for three days, beginning today.
The three suspects avoided the media when they were escorted out of court by the police.
According to counsels Jaya Prem Krishnan and Mohd Shukri Ahmad Mansor, their clients were being investigated for the case under Section 420 which was filed by a complainant in Klang and involved the sum of RM56,400. Section 420 of the Penal Code pertains to cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property.
The Star reported that Jaya Prem said, “This money went to a company which is not even under the name of my clients.”
The raid at 4:30 am in Petaling Jaya saw the seizure of a Honda Accord, five mobile phones, documents pertaining to JJPTR investments, cheque books, 11 debit and credit cards, and RM20,936 in cash.
Lee has been in the media spotlight and under public scrutiny for almost a month after he claimed that his company’s network was “hacked”, which allegedly resulted in an estimated RM1.7b in losses to investors.
Simultaneous raids were conducted on JJPTR offices in Penang last Friday in a joint operation by the Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID), Anti-Money Laundering (AMLA) force, Internal Revenue Board (IRB), Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), National Revenue Recovery Enforcement (NRRE), Securities Commission Malaysia (SSM) and Cybersecurity. Nineteen people, comprising 15 workers and four investors, were detained for questioning and subsequently released. The 19 individuals are locals aged between 23 and 40, with 16 of them being women.
Police have also initiated action to freeze all assets of the collapsed investment scheme under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001. JJPTR is said to have collected RM1.7b from investors.
JJPTR and its affiliated JJ Poor to Rich and JJ Global Network were listed on Feb 24 on Bank Negara’s website as unauthorised and unapproved companies.
The majority of investors, who have not been refunded their investments that Lee had promised to repay, are in the dark as to what will happen now.
In an attempt viewed by some as buying time, the often brazen Lee has fallen short on promises that money will be refunded, that it is business as usual and that many investors are keen on his new scheme which was supposed to have taken off last Saturday. Now, it is uncertain if the much-publicised company dinner this Saturday at Berjaya Times Square in Kuala Lumpur will even be held.
Related reports:
May 15, JJPTR Alleged Loss RM500M or RM1.7B?
May 12, JJPTR Raid, Bank Accounts Frozen
May 11, Johnson Lee Exalted Like a Modern-Day Robin Hood
May 5, The Johnson Lee Enigma: Super Salesman or Convincing Conman?
Apr 28, Another High Returns Scheme in Trouble!
Apr 26, DAP Issues 48-Hour Ultimatum to JJPTR
Apr 25, Game Over for JJPTR?