A 92-YEAR-OLD retired PWD employee was cheated out of more than RM1 million and almost lost his RM2.6 million house in Medan Damansara to a con artist, but his family and friends intervened just in time.
Relating the incident to The Vibes, the victim‟s friend Andrew, 75, said the victim, identified only as Tony, a lone bachelor, was introduced to the con artist, known only as "Arun" from Mount Kiara, through some friends in 2017.
"Tony wanted to build a small pool in his compound and was introduced to Arun, who was supposed to be a pool contractor.
“‘Arun gained Tony's trust by buying him food, drink, spending time at his house, eventually becoming friends then taking advantage of Tony.
“Tony began to treat him as a son and even paid for his wedding in 2017,” said Andrew.
However, he said paying for Arun’s wedding was just the tip of the iceberg. Friends and family later found out that Arun had charged Tony RM400,000 for constructing a small pool in the compound.
“Since Tony‟s memory was not very good, Arun even double-charged him, claiming that the initial payment was not made.
Repeatedly, he used accounts of deregistered companies to launder money from Tony.
“We discovered this scheme when we found slips of simultaneous bank transfers to Arun’s and his brother‟s companies amounting to several thousands of ringgit.
“These unscrupulous tactics by Arun continued till 2020, resulting in Tony losing more than RM1 million and almost all his savings being wiped out.
"Arun even cheated Tony out of his Mercedes Benz, claiming it needed repairs and eventually using it for his own purposes,” said Andrew.
Tony‟s sister, Angie, said her brother always defended Arun, claiming he was a close friend who was there to help him.
“Things only came to light in 2020 when we found out that Tony hardly had any money left. It was then that Tony told us the whole story and how he had been transferring huge amounts of cash to Arun’s accounts,” she said.
She said Arun had also been scheming to cheat Tony out of his house.
“He tricked Tony into signing documents to transfer the ownership of the house to Arun, stating that Tony was gifting the house to Arun as a gift of love,” she said.
Angie said the family felt angry and disappointed that Arun had taken advantage of an old man, causing him to lose his lifelong savings and almost his house.
“Tony had signed the house transfer documents without knowing what they were, as he trusted Arun, who had told him they were just some council-related documents for the house.
“When we found out about the scam, we took Tony to lodge a police report, and in total, three reports were lodged (that were sighted by The Vibes),” she said.
However, she said Arun was never detained.
When they went to the land office to check the status of the house, they found out they were three days late.
“The house had already been transferred to Arun. Using the police reports, we engaged a lawyer, and the case went to court in 2021.
“It was tough at the time as it was during Covid-19 and the MCO period. Each time the case was called, Arun never showed up in court, and the police were also unable to locate him,” said Angie.
She said the court process went on for some time, and eventually, the judge ruled in favour of Tony.
“We produced all the relevant supporting evidence and documents, and thankfully, the court ordered the house to be returned to Tony.
“Sadly, Tony lost almost all his savings and his car. Fortunately, he still has his monthly pension and is now living off that,” she said, adding that Arun, according to police, was never located.
She described Arun as someone very good at socialising and winning trust.
“We are lucky that Tony got his house back. The reason we are highlighting this is to create awareness and hope others do not fall victim to such conmen,” added Angie. – July 28, 2024.
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