Plot thickens in Profitable Plots case
More complaints made against investment firm than previously stated
By Francis Chan
POLICE have received significantly more complaints about scandal-hit Profitable Plots than indicated earlier, according to the latest updates on an ongoing probe into the investment firm.
A report by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD), submitted as part of proceedings at the Subordinate Courts yesterday, stated that 174 complaints relating to $18.5 million worth of investments have been made against the firm.
This is well above the 106 cases involving $9.5 million in investments, indicated by the CAD last month.
The firm came to the attention of the white-collar police after its clients complained that the firm was dragging its feet over paying out investment returns due to them upon maturity.
The clients, mainly retail investors, had bought into land and lubricant investments, among other things, since the firm was set up here in 2004.
The CAD said in its latest report that investigations into the different investments sold by the firm are still ongoing.
However, the CAD has found that the 'principal investments and/or returns owing to the complainants upon maturity... had significantly exceeded the amount seized from the bank accounts'.
This was despite Profitable Plots recording a consolidated group revenue of $35.4 million last year and $32.8 million in 2008, added the CAD.
An Oct 12 investigation report by the CAD, submitted during court proceedings last month, revealed that Profitable Plots' liabilities and obligations to clients far exceeded its assets, giving the police grounds to suspect that the company's investment schemes were 'introduced to defraud its clients'.
But the court yesterday rejected an application by the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) to freeze the investment firm's accounts for another six months, pending the investigations of the CAD.
It gave the CAD another three months instead, after which a review will be conducted on March 9 next year, said lawyer Wendell Wong of Drew & Napier, who is representing Profitable Plots.
The latest ruling follows an earlier decision by High Court Judge Lee Seiu Kin, who on Dec 1 gave the green light for the firm to withdraw funds from those bank accounts to pay former employees.
At the time, Justice Lee noted that it was approaching the end of the year and that former staff would have been owed their salaries and Central Provident Fund monies since August.
In its early days, Profitable Plots was known for its TV commercials featuring former professional footballers urging viewers to 'Buy UK land'.
But it made headlines earlier this year when a dozen angry clients stormed its offices demanding their investment payouts, which they said were either delayed or not paid.
Numerous police reports lodged against the firm led to a raid by the CAD on the firm's Stanley Street headquarters on Aug 11.
The following day, the CAD froze the firm's three bank accounts with Citibank that held a total of $277,590.
Yesterday, the police reported that the balance held by Profitable Plots was $55,548.42, after deducting the amount ordered by the court to be released to the firm to pay its staff. The CAD also confirmed that money invested by the clients was deposited into the firm's bank accounts.
Mr Wong told The Straits Times yesterday that the firm has applied to the CAD and is now waiting for the green light to pay its staff the salaries and CPF contributions owed to them.
To date, no charges have been filed against Profitable Plots and director Tim Goldring had reportedly refuted the CAD findings.
The CAD was ordered by the court yesterday to give an update on the status of its probe against the firm during a hearing on March 9.
franchan@sph.com.sg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About the case
PROFITABLE Plots started out in Singapore as a strategic land investment firm by a group of British expatriates in 2004.
It was investigated by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) after several investors complained that the company owed them money.
The white-collar crime police raided the firm's Stanley Street offices in August, seizing documents and taking directors in for questioning, according to earlier reports.
The CAD also froze the company's three bank accounts, but the High Court has since ordered some of the money to be released.
Profitable Plots is part of global investment entity Profitable Group, which has offices in Malaysia, Canada and Brunei, among other countries.
The firm was placed on the Monetary Authority of Singapore's Investor Alert List last year.
A group of unhappy investors waiting outside the firm's offices in Stanley Street months ago, wanting to find out why their investments, which they claimed had been promised a certain return after six months, had not been honoured. --NEW PAPER FILE PHOTO
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment