By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Mar 9: Stampin MP Chong Chieng Jen has called on the Ministry of Finance’s (MoF) intervention as two out of the 20 victims of an investment scam carried out independently by an ex-bank officer have not received any refunds at all, causing him to question the reason given by the bank.
In a statement issued today, Chong said that to date, 14 victims have received full refunds while four received partial refunds.
“For the total 20 victims, a total of RM2.68 million of cash was misappropriated, of which, there is still an approximate outstanding sum of RM430,000 yet to be refunded,” said Chong, who is also assemblyman for Padungan and chairman of the Sarawak Democratic Action Party (DAP).
He said that a couple who used extra liquid cash from their trade for the investment scheme were denied the refund, prompting them to seek him for further assistance to recover their losses.
Chong explained that the reason given by the bank for denying the refund is that the source of funds for that portion of the misappropriated money cannot be shown to have been withdrawn from any bank account, thus making them ‘suspicious’.
He elaborated that the bank imposed upon its customers that to be entitled to the refund, the victim must prove that the money was withdrawn from a bank account within one month before the date the money was misappropriated.
“For example, a food operator having a few outlets at some shopping malls in Kuching was denied a full refund because approximately RM12,000 of his investment money was from his daily trade collection and not from any bank account.
“If the money was not withdrawn from a bank account within 30 days before the date of the misappropriation, then it is considered ‘suspicious’ money; thus, the bank will not refund the money,” he said.
Chong further stated that even if the source of the funds is deemed suspicious, it is the responsibility of the police to investigate the depositors regarding the origin of the money.
The case first came to light on Nov 28, 2025, when a couple sought help after their lifetime savings amounting to RM400,000 had allegedly disappeared following the withdrawal of their investments from a unit trust management company to reinvest them in a financial product promoted by the bank officer.
They said that the funds were transferred directly in cash within the bank’s branch, and the victims never handled any of the money themselves.
It was only when they were informed that the bank officer in question had been suspended from work over issues related to the same product that they became alarmed.
They then immediately checked with the bank, only to be told that no such account existed under their names and no funds had ever been deposited. — DayakDaily
