PETALING JAYA: Breast cancer survivor Cherry Lim was shattered when she learned last year that she may have lost the RM85,000 she invested in a Canadian land investment scheme.
“It was a big chunk of my RM200,000 EPF savings which I can never replace,'' said the 60-year-old Lim, who broke down in tears as she spoke of how she had slogged for 35 years as a human resources executive before retiring in 2008.
“It was hard-earned money and I have no other source of income. I had believed the returns promised would see me through to my last days,'' said Lim, who has to spend about RM2,000 every three months for medication.
Lim said she had invested in the scheme offered by a Canadian-based property company through its local chapter Edgeworth Properties (Malaysia) after being told about it by her unit trust agent who was also an investment agent for the company.
Software engineer Ng Jiunn Jye, 35, also believed he could multiply the money he had saved for his children's education by investing in the scheme.
“I invested about RM100,000 in 2008 after being convinced by an agent who told me the land we would be investing in came with titles and insurance coverage,'' he said.
Besides assuring Ng that the venture was safe, the agent also convinced him that the value of the property would appreciate within the next 2 years and that he would receive a 60% return on his investment.
Both Lim and Ng said they were confident of good returns especially after company chairman Donald Hurst wrote to them in January last year saying that their investments were doing well.
However, their hopes were dashed when Hurst wrote again in April saying the company had run into problems due to various reasons.
“I just want the RM85,000 that I have invested and nothing else. My future will be very bleak if I cannot get the money back,'' Lim said.
She and Ng were among 60-odd people who came to the Selangor MCA Public Service and Complaints Department to talk of their plight.
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