PETALING JAYA: A local contractor lost RM13.3 million to two former bank officers who allegedly promised him returns after supporting 85 ‘home-refinancing’ applications which they claimed had been pending at their bank.
According to a report by FMT, contractor, Chin Hooi Phang, 58, said that two bank officers in their 30s had approached him for a loan to expedite payouts to customers under refinancing schemes from the bank.
The two officers told Chin the loaned sum would be used to pay the customers upfront since the official bank reimbursement would ‘take a long time.’
Penang Gerakan public complaints bureau chief H’ng Khoon Leng told a press conference that Chin agreed to assist them in paying for 85 home refinancing cases for a year, as one of the bank officers who Chin had known for eight years promised him returns from the advance payments.
“The bank manager told Chin he would get the money for 10 cases, but the returns were never received, with the perpetrator claiming it was used to bankroll other cases,” H’ng reportedly said.
Chin explained that he and the bank manager became friends after he sought a mortgage eight years ago.
He added that he raised the RM13.3 million through borrowing around RM10 million from family and friends and withdrawing RM3.3 million from his savings as he was assured that it was a legitimate scheme since the managers were employees from a well-known bank and had produced original bank documents.
He then claimed through police investigations, the names and identification card numbers were real, as they had been sourced through the bank’s database but discovered that the ‘customers’ had not applied for said plan.
The bank employees then admitted later, after Chin demanded compensation, that they made up the 85 cases.
“The two men I trusted admitted that they defrauded me, and I made them sign an agreement that they would pay me back in installments. I have yet to get back a single sen. Now, the bank manager is missing, and his friend (the other bank officer) is refusing to answer calls,” he said.
It was also revealed that both men had left their jobs.
Chin also had to sell all his valuables which he managed to raise RM800,000 to recompensate his relatives and friends.
He had lodged a police report two weeks ago.
