The family of a woman who allegedly cheated several family members of their hard-earned savings have turned to the media to raise awareness of their plight and warn others.
According to China Press, the fraud cost the affected parties RM2.36 million, while the woman and her lover have since vanished.
Meeting her BF
The woman’s mother, Xu Yatao (transliteration), said the chain of events began when her daughter dated a man named Chen in 2020.
Xu said the woman, who’s the youngest daughter, was married at the time but later divorced her husband to be with Chen — a man who portrayed himself as a wealthy, generous person who boasted of his contacts with officials and his ability to gain access to lucrative investment opportunities.
Xu said at the beginning, she declined her daughter’s repeated requests to invest. However, the latter’s persistence eventually won out and Xu gave her RM500,000.
She added that the woman and Chen promised to repay the principal and additional interest once the investment began to yield a substantial return.
After a few months, the duo returned a portion of the sum to Xu, but never fulfilled the remaining amount as they claimed they were facing difficulties with cash flow and had their bank account frozen.
Fraudulent activities
Xu also alleged that her daughter had taken her bank card and secretly withdrew RM200,000, with Xu only coming to know the truth months ago when she received a notification from the bank.
This left her with RM700,000 in the hole after having lost her RM500,000 nest egg, and the RM200,000 set aside to pay her monthly insurance premiums.
It later turned out that Xu wasn’t the only victim of the couple’s deceitful actions, with the woman’s brother Peng Niangfu (transliteration) being cheated out of more than RM360,000 over the course of several years.
According to Peng, Chen had approached him recently to borrow RM30,000. But Peng only lent him RM5,000 as he was worried the money wouldn’t be returned.
He alleged that several other family members were also duped, including the woman’s late father, another brother who has since passed away, and an aunt who was saving up to treat an eye disease.
Uncontactable
Peng and Xu told China Press that Chen vanished in March, while the woman became uncontactable in recent days.
They added that they caught wind of the woman planning to sell her house, leading them to fear that she was looking to escape. This also prompted them to turn to the media to raise awareness so that others will not be defrauded.
Recounting on the financial loss suffered by the family, Xu said it couldn’t compare to the pain of seeing her own daughter conspiring with her lover to cheat several people.
She added that her daughter was a “rebellious and competitive” person growing up, and had trouble getting along with the family. But Xu said she chose to “tolerate” it in order to prevent disputes.
The matter has since been reported to the police, with Peng and Xu urging the couple to return to Tampin and provide an explanation, as well as pay back what they had owed.
While expressing willingness to settle the issue civilly, Peng and Xu said they will take further action if the couple fail to turn up.
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