KUALA LUMPUR: The Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) has raided the office of a date plantation company in Northpoint Midvalley today which had been alleged to have wrongfully solicit investments from the public.
SSM deputy chief executive officer (regulatory and enforcement) Nor Azimah Abdul Aziz said the company had offered its investment scheme without registering the scheme with SSM.
“We are investigating to determine if the company had operated an interest scheme.
“Under the Interest Schemes Act 2016 (Act 778) which was gazetted on 15 September last year and came into force on January 31, this year, any interest scheme must be registered with SSM," she said, adding that a similar provision was previously under the now repealed Companies Act 1965.
Any person who contravenes this section commits and offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to imprisonment for a term not more than 10 years or a fine not exceeding RM50 million, or to both.
An interest scheme involves the pooling of a financial contribution from the public in exchange for an interest in the particular scheme.
The Interest Scheme Act 2016 was legislated to protect the public from exploitation by irresponsible quarters who try to get them to contribute money in unregulated environment.
Interest schemes can be investment schemes, recreational membership (time-sharing) schemes and a combination of such schemes.
Nor Azimah said the raid was conducted following a complaint lodged by a potential investor in December last year.
She said the company had attracted its customers by offering a high return for investment in date plantations in Johor, Terengganu and Kelantan.
“The investment varies from RM3,000 to RM5,000 per tree.
"The company will manage the plantation and upon harvesting, will pay investors between RM12 and RM20 per kilogramme for the dates, depending on fruit size and quality.
"The company claimed that the harvest will increase from year to year and each tree is expected to yield returns up to RM1 million after 10 years,” she said in a press conference today.
The raid this morning was led by 10 officers from SSM, assisted by two police officer from the Commercial Crime Investigation Department.
Nor Azimah declined to reveal further details of the raid as it is still in the early stage of investigation.
She did not rule out that the company might have committed offences which fall into the jurisdiction of other government agencies.
At the same time, she advised the public to check with the SSM to determine if a particular investment scheme is registered with the government agency.
"The public should not rush into making a decision to invest in a scheme that offer unusually high returns in a short time," she said.
Meanwhile, on its website, the company claims to be actively involved in date palm plantation industry.
"We operate and market for the largest date palm plantation in Malaysia," it stated.
The company also claimed that it already has buyers for its dates at wholesale price.
Attempts to contact the company for comment however were unsuccessful.