Upset investors report Solid Gold to police
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Victims of an alleged fraudulent scheme operated by the Solid Gold Investama (SGI) have urged the Jakarta Police to press ahead with their seemingly stalled investigation of the case.
"I reported this to the city police last year. But, the investigation has been stalled since then and I've heard nothing more about it," said Naema S. Bachmid, one of the investors in the scheme, during a press conference on Thursday.
She said many other investors had also filed reports with the police. "I really hope the police continue the investigation. We learned that the company management has now set up another company under a new name. I don't want other people to fall into the same trap."
Naema said she had lost around Rp 2 billion (US$219,780) to the alleged scam.
"I invested my money between October 2002 and July 2003, before I discovered that the company did not possess a license to operate as an investment company," she added.
Naema is representing 21 investors who each lost between Rp 100 million and Rp 3 billion. They were told that by investing their money in SGI, they would receive yields of up to 30 percent per month.
According to Naema, the company usually contacted potential investors after obtaining information on their financial circumstances.
"I had no idea about how they obtained my personal data, including my address, phone number and information about my financial circumstances. They claimed they got the data from my banks. I have accounts with many banks," she said.
The company's marketing department would contact potential investors and persuade them to invest their money by promising huge returns.
"They kept calling me. Since they promised I would get a 30 percent profit on my investment every month, I paid US$10,000 into their account," she said.
SGI claimed it would invest the money in the Jakarta Futures Exchange (BBJ).
"Two days after I first transferred the money, they said I had to pay some interest, fees and other things. In total, I lost Rp 100 million in two days," Naema recalled.
The company later told her that she would have to invest more money if she wanted to get her original investment back.
Naema believed the company's promises and in all invested a total of Rp 2.9 billion. "Rp 2 billion of that is my own money, while the rest belongs to my relatives'."
City police spokesman Sr. Comr. Tjiptono said he had yet to receive a report on the progress made so far in the case.
The National Police have announced that SGI president director Fang Fang has been placed on their wanted list.