Giant billboards promoting scheme not what they seem
Billboard boast: Motorists passing one of the billboards on the Penang Bridge proclaiming Zhang Jian as the future’s richest person. — MUSTAFA AHMAD / The Star
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PETALING JAYA: Why is a “successful” businessman with such a huge and vast market like China coming to a small market like Malaysia?
The Chinese Embassy here says the company has been banned in China and its 26-year-old founder has been hauled up by police there five times.
The man has now moved his operations to this part of the world, and his face has been appearing in giant billboards promoting his get-rich-quick scheme.
The company’s ads on the Internet tell people that they can earn big money and drive fancy cars without having to work. It also boasts of creating millionaires around the world.
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By merely investing RM300, investors are guaranteed an income of between RM2,700 and RM6,800 per month – without lifting a finger.
Police sources believed there could be criminal elements in the scheme, which falls under the jurisdiction of Bank Negara.
A check on several Chinese websites showed that netizens in China have posted the excerpt of an article on the top 10 MLM cases from the websites of China’s Public Security Bureau and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, citing that the operator of a Yun Shu Mao website was coercing fees from downliners who would receive huge rewards in return.
The article reported that Chinese authorities said the scheme had expanded to 28 provinces involving 190,000 people and that in August last year, police in eight provinces detained 33 persons involved in the scheme.
Chinese laws prohibit any individual or company from carrying out multi-level marketing or pyramid schemes in the country.
Other netizens also claimed that the founder of Yun Shu Mao changed his name to Zhang Jian and had since fled to Malaysia.
An online news portal has quoted Gabungan Sukarelawan 1Malaysia (GS1M) adviser Datuk Ng Bong Ching as saying there have been police reports lodged against the scheme.
He said he had cross-checked the reports with the Chinese embassy.
The online news portal also reported that in January this year, a get-rich-quick scam operated by a Chinese national in his mid-20s had seen about 10,000 people losing some RM20mil.
Victims are attracted to the scheme as it promised them luxury cars and cash within a short period. According to an ad placed by the company, a member has to pay RM300 to sign up.
For every member he recruits, he will be paid RM50 per person until the sixth level.
Beyond the sixth level, the member will have to top up his membership fee to a maximum of RM30,000 to continue enjoying the benefits.
Members are also promised stock returns through e-shares and luxury items, including BMW cars, through lucky draws when they reached a certain stage of recruitment.
Meanwhile, a 15-minute video clip on YouTube shows the businessman telling an interviewer that Malaysia was chosen because of its multi-lingual population.
He said he would conduct his business model via the multi-level marketing scheme, adding that 10% of China’s richest men had gained their wealth online.
“Last year, it took us only nine months to get 30 million members. This year, we broke the record, hitting 100 million. No matter what type of businesses you are venturing into, you need to have crowd. Without the crowd, how are you going to operate and gain revenue?” he said in the interview released on March 19 this year.
China’s Ambassador to Malaysia Huang Huikang said earlier that the Chinese embassy was following closely the controversy arising from the so-called get-rich-quick scheme.
The Chinese national had a run-in with the law over his get-rich-quick scam through his business empire known as Yun Shu Mao.
He reminded Malaysian investors to be smart and to understand any plan well before joining an investment scheme.
Kwong Wah Yit Poh reported that the Selangor Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Department had started to investigate Yun Shu Mao under the Direct Sales and Anti-Pyramid Scheme Act 1993 five months ago.
'Future world's richest man' billboard to be taken down
Is this for r eal?: One of the billboards showing the businessman from China can be seen along a highway.
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BUTTERWORTH: A prominent billboard showing a businessman Zhang Jian from China, put up near the Penang Bridge toll plaza here, will be brought down following a police report and a complaint to the Seberang Prai Municipal Council (MPSP).
The billboard states “Bakal orang terkaya di dunia – En Zhang Jian (the future richest person in the world – Mr Zhang Jian)” and bears two website addresses.
MPSP councillor Michael Tan said the council received a complaint from the public who made a police report on the content of the billboard.
“We served notice to the billboard owner on June 18 to bring it down.
“The owner is supposed to bring down the billboard within 44 days from the date the notice was served,” he said.
Tan said the owner responded last week that they would be removing the billboard by July 16, although the current permit for the billbaord runs until November.
When contacted, state MCA Public Services and Complaints Bureau adviser Lim Thoon Deong said they had not received any complaints from the public concerning the matter.
“We have handled many get-rich scheme cases, and if the allegations are true, this could be a new way to cheat the public.
“The public can come and see us for assistance. We can help to facilitate and work with the police,” he said.
