Genneva oh Genneva - 10 billion???

KUALA LUMPUR: Some 35,000 investors with a total investment of RM10 billion were found to be involved with the gold bullion investment company Genneva Malaysia Sdn Bhd, a deputy minister told the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussin said based on the information received thus far, total investments received amount to RM4 billion and could swell to RM10 billion.

He said Bank Negara Malaysia needs time to investigate the company based on two considerations necessary to solve the controversy over the gold bar trading scheme.
First, Genneva Malaysia has been “disguising the gold bar business. Gold is a sentimental attraction. Many people are keen on gold regardless of their background. [The investors] feel this is a genuine business”.

“Second, Bank Negara Malaysia [BNM] has to study the situation. The central bank cannot raid straight away. For instance, if Bank Negara conducts a raid today and starts a probe, the central bank is scolded. Because of the raid, investors lose their returns.

“So Bank Negara has to consider. The central bank cannot act very quickly or very late. A balanced consideration is important. I feel all of us will learn from this experience. Hopefully, we can better handle this type of cases in future,” he said during question time. He was replying to a supplementary question from Datuk Ibrahim Ali (IND-Pasir Mas).

Earlier, Awang Adek told the House that Genneva Malaysia’s liabilities were more than its assets, which clearly show the company cannot afford to pay the returns due to its investors.
The authorities recently conducted a raid on Genneva Malaysia and its associate company on suspicion of violating the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

Datuk Wira Ahmad Hamzah (BN-Jasin), who posed the original question, had asked the finance ministry what measures are being taken to curb get rich quick schemes which involve deposit-taking and illegal investments.

In his reply, Awang Adek said BNM is considering imposing a more deterrent sentence on the operators of get rich quick schemes.

The ministry, in collaboration with related government agencies including enforcement divisions, is monitoring the situation closely and gathering intelligence, besides getting information from public complaints, he said. — Bernama