KUANTAN – A company manager has lodged a police report claiming to have lost RM512,000 after being deceived into buying a bogus approved permit (AP) for bauxite.
Pahang Commercial Criminal Investigation head Mohd Wazir Mohd Yusof said the victim, 52, said he and three partners befriended a man in early 2017, who claimed to be able to get them an AP for bauxite from Kuantan.
Following discussions, the victim said on January 10, 2017, his company then agreed to buy the AP for RM450,000 – at RM9 per tonne – and was asked to pay RM10,000 in legal fees.
The victim said in May and August the same year, the suspect, 31, asked him to pay RM12,000 for the permit renewal and in June the same year, to pay RM20,000 for the bauxite royalty.
“The victim claimed that he also lost RM20,000 after opening a new company, as advised by the suspect, to handle the bauxite-export business, after one of his partners disappeared,” Wazir said in a statement today.
He added the victim lodged the police report after feeling that he had been cheated as he had yet to receive the AP after waiting for more than three years.
In another case, a 55-year-old contractor lost RM10,500 through the online purchase of a backhoe after seeing an advertisement on a social media platform early this month.
Wazir said the victim claimed he made the deal for the purchase of the heavy machinery with a man, who claimed to be from Ayer Tawar, Perak, who agreed to sell it for RM40,000.
“The victim said he was then asked to make advance payment of RM8,000, which he did in two transactions, last April 11 and 14, to a given account number, and was asked to make another payment of RM2,500 for delivery of the machinery to Kuantan,” he said.
He said the victim claimed he had yet to receive the machine and lodged the police report after feeling that he had been cheated. – Bernama, April 19, 2021
