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Penang Times Square, once the pride of MBI, is now a 'ghost' shopping complex
MBI probe rocking ‘squeaky clean’ Penang DAP-led PH government
KUALA LUMPUR, June 12, 2025: The ongoing multi-billion Ringgit international MBI "Ponzi-like" financial scam probe is rocking the “squeaky clean” DAP-led Penang Pakatan Harapan (PH) government.
Singapore’s Channel News Asia (CNA) has posted a report titled Corruption In Penang – MBI Investigations Could Lead All The Way Up To Top Leadership In DAP.
As far as the DAP and government are concerned, “silence is golden”.
There has been no response or a single denial of allegations that the state government is linked to the MBI scam.
No News Is Bad News reproduces below the CNA news report and other posts in the internet:
Corruption In Penang – MBI Investigations Could Lead All The Way Up To Top Leadership In DAP
12 June, 2025
There is also talk of possible political fallout for the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a component of PM Anwar’s coalition government and the dominant political party in Penang.
A former DAP politician, who asked not to be identified, said that there are concerns among senior party leaders that the ongoing crackdown could implicate leaders from the party because of their close ties with property developers.
“DAP leaders always boasted about how the Penang property market is so robust. But now it appears that the driving factors may not have been legal,” he said.
As a local Penangite told the writer, this will be bigger than 1MDB.
Due to the relatively “closed society connections” in Penang, it’s very difficult to expose corruption. The writer did so back in an article called “Rumblings of Corruption in Penang” in October 2022, which received wroth from sections of the DAP. You don’t expose the DAP, not in Penang anyway.
But Malaysian police have been forced to pursue corruption leads in Penang, that may yet lead to the top echelons of government there.
When Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Malaysia last April, he had more on his mind than just exchanging pleasantries with Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim. President Xi wanted the Malaysian police to cooperate with China’s Public Security Ministry to track down and bring to justice those involved in a Ponzi scheme that cheated many Chinese investors.
When Malaysian Tedy Teow Wooi Huat was arrested at the MBI office in 2022 by Thai police in Songkhla, he was eventually extradited to China under a 1999 extradition treaty, the game was up with major Penang crime syndicates.
Teow has given Chinese authorities massive amounts of information which has enabled Malaysian police crack down on the perpetrators of the MBI Ponzi scheme, which gave early investors massive returns.
As reported in CNA, so far Malaysian police have recovered RM 3.8 billion from 988 bank accounts. However, much of the money MBI collected was invested in the local development scene with local business people to purchase real estate. Developers have allegedly purchased state land for large development projects, which involved top state figures up to the exco and even chief minister himself. One such development is reclaimed land near Pulau Jerejak.
Local business leaders and political leaders worried
Already a number of ‘Tan Sri’s’ have been arrested and placed in remand. Police are also investigating more property developers.
These investigations could lead all the way up to the leadership of the Penang government and ruling Democratic Action Party (DAP) hierarchy, which is also a member of the ‘unity government’.
With the Chinese authorities behind investigations, its unlikely these investigations will just disappear like previous cases concerning elite business people and politicians. Over the next few months, the net will grow wider and could bring in some ‘household names’.
As a local Penangite told the writer, this will be bigger than 1MDB.
Source : Murray Hunter
China-Malaysia crackdown on alleged Ponzi scheme rattles Penang’s corporate, political circles
A joint Malaysia-China crackdown on an alleged multi-billion-dollar Ponzi scheme that preyed mainly on Chinese nationals has garnered the attention of both countries’ top leaders, Malaysian Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail told CNA.
He added that a recent wave of arrests made by Malaysian authorities was based on information provided by the alleged mastermind of the Ponzi scheme, who is being detained in China.
Speaking to other senior officials in Malaysia and other sources in Penang, CNA has also found that the crackdown has rattled the political and business establishments of the northern state, one of the country’s most industrialised states.
In recent weeks, investigators from the Anti-Money Laundering Division of the Malaysian police have detained 17 Malaysians, including several high-profile real estate magnates from Penang, under a crackdown operation codenamed Op Northern Star.
Malaysian police have also seized and frozen an additional RM527.5 million (US$124.5 million) in assets linked to an investment scam by the now-defunct MBI International Group, bringing the total value of assets recovered to RM3.8 billion.
The enforcement efforts were talked about by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim when Xi visited Malaysia from Apr 15 to 17, Saifuddin Ismail told CNA in a brief interview this month.
“The crackdown of MBI came up during the four-eye talks between Xi and Anwar, and the Chinese are very pleased by Malaysia’s efforts,” Saifuddin said.
The enforcement agencies in China consider online scams, both at home and internationally, a top threat against its citizens, the minister added.
Malaysian police have been acting on information received from their Chinese counterparts regarding central elements of the alleged Ponzi scheme from their ongoing interrogation of MBI’s Malaysian founder Tedy Teow Wooi Huat.
Teow has been in custody in China since last August following his extradition from Thailand.
“Teow has been providing the Chinese with detailed information on how the MBI scam was executed and the people in Malaysia who were involved in laundering the money operation, and we (the police) are acting on it,” said Saifuddin.
MORE ARRESTS, SEIZURES EXPECTED: MALAYSIAN OFFICIALS
Government officials here noted that the MBI Ponzi scheme — which promised high returns to investors and paid out returns from monies collected from new investors before the scam collapsed — had allegedly duped more than two million Chinese depositors of over 55 billion yuan (US$7.65 billion), or roughly RM32.4 billion at the current exchange rate.
Malaysian government officials told CNA that the ongoing clampdown, which is at its initial stages and is likely to involve more arrests and asset seizures, is part of a months-long joint operation between the Home Affairs Ministry and China’s Public Security Ministry.
Mohammed Hasbullah Ali, the acting director of the Commercial Crime Investigation Department of the Malaysian Police, told local media recently that total seizures from the ongoing crackdown have recovered assets valued at RM3.8 billion, together with 988 bank accounts frozen.
Senior government officials told CNA that police are also working on the theory that large amounts of the money collected were salted away into the island’s property development sector under a variety of allegedly doubtful business transactions, particularly advances to real estate developers struggling to obtain financing from the banking sector.
What’s more, investigators are also pursuing leads that monies raised by MBI allegedly helped finance purchases of state government land for large development projects, ventures that have been key to Penang’s robust economic growth over the last decade.
One project that is of interest to investigators is the proposed development on reclaimed land near an island known as Pulau Jerejak located off the coast of Penang. Pulau Jerejak bears its historical significance as a former leper asylum, a quarantine station and penal colony.
“The police have the suspected recipients and how the deals were structured to launder the MBI money, and now those people need to show the source of funds for their wealth, properties and how projects were financed,” said a Home Affairs ministry official, who is receiving regular briefings on the ongoing money-laundering investigation.
The funds were later believed to have been laundered into a host of ventures, including funding property developers in Penang and trading in equities in the local stock market to manipulate the prices of so-called penny stocks, investigators noted.
The police have not identified the people arrested, only noting that three businessmen, who have been awarded the distinguished title of “Tan Sri” by Malaysia’s King, are among those who were remanded for a period of five to eight days.
But government officials and Penang-based lawyers close to the situation noted that police scrutiny has centred on several property companies with development projects on the island.
Company executives contacted by CNA declined comment.
DISQUIET IN PENANG
The high-profile crackdown, which began days ahead of the three-day official visit by President Xi to Malaysia, also proved to be a boon for the Anwar government in its increasingly warm relations with Beijing.
While the Anwar government may have earned strong credit from China in pursuing the collaborators in the MBI scheme headed by Teow, the widening crackdown has triggered a serious disquiet in Penang’s business community.
Penang’s predominantly Chinese business community is closely-knit, Malaysian bankers and lawyers noted.
There is also talk of possible political fallout for the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a component of PM Anwar’s coalition government and the dominant political party in Penang.
A former DAP politician, who asked not to be identified, said that there are concerns among senior party leaders that the ongoing crackdown could implicate leaders from the party because of their close ties with property developers.
“DAP leaders always boasted about how the Penang property market is so robust. But now it appears that the driving factors may not have been legal,” he said.
POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC DIMENSIONS
Given the potentially troubling political and economic dimensions of the MBI debacle, businessmen, lawyers, architects and politicians in Penang have been reluctant to speak about the expanding crackdown.
One senior lawyer in the state capital of Georgetown with close ties to the DAP said: “One out of five businessmen and professionals here, from lawyers, architects, property valuers and bankers, are in some way inadvertently involved. No one is going to talk to you.”
Chinese nationals have long favoured Penang as a tourism destination.
In 2024 alone, Chinese tourist arrivals surged by 218.9 per cent over the previous year, with over 120,000 arriving via Penang International Airport.
The unfolding MBI saga – with little-known elements unearthed by CNA from interviews with government officials, police, and lawyers familiar with the working of Ponzi schemes – has shown how fraud schemes based out of the Malaysian northern island targeted Chinese and other nationals.
In recent years, ordinary Malaysians and foreigners have been burnt by several Penang-based scamming schemes, such as the now-defunct forex trading platform known as JJ Poor to Rich and Richway Global Venture, another forex trading scam that went bust in 2017.
But these pale in comparison to MBI, judging by the number of people it is believed to have allegedly defrauded and the vast amounts of money embezzled.
HOW THE PONZI SCHEME GREW
Dubbed by the Chinese media as the “Asia’s godfather of pyramid schemes”, the 59-year-old Teow, who has also been called “Jho Low 2” after the financier who masterminded Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal, is no stranger to controversy.
He set up MBI, or Mobility Beyond Imagination, in 2009, a year after he established another bogus franchising outfit called Island Red Cafe, which solicited funds with the promise of high returns.
Red Cafe went bust in 18 months and Teow and his son Teow Chee Chow were sentenced to a day’s jail and fined RM160,000 in 2011 after pleading guilty to two counts of cheating and misleading investors of over RM1 million in the scam.
But the blight of scandal did not deter Teow from pushing a more audacious scheme through MBI, which aggressively pushed a pyramid scheme called MFC, which was anchored on a platform for a digital coin called M-Coin that not only provided high returns allegedly but also served as currency at MBI outlets.
The scheme started in 2012 and by 2016 had expanded to Taiwan, Japan and New Zealand, according to investigators. But Teow’s main target was the potential investors from China.
Penangites recall how hundreds of Chinese tourists from luxury cruise ships would disembark at the Penang jetty, before being bussed to the Penang Times Square mall in the capital Georgetown where they could purchase cellphones and other items, such as handbags and cosmetics, using M-Coin.
Today, the Penang Times Square, which was also known as M Mall, is largely deserted. Visitors are greeted by the lingering smell of strong incense burning from a Chinese temple on the ground floor that draws devotees from nearby apartment buildings.
An operator of a nearby convenience store, who only wanted to be identified as Mohan, said that M Mall was struggling since late 2016 and went completely bust when COVID-19 hit.
SOURCE OF DIPLOMATIC IRRITATION
The MBI house of cards came crashing down in mid-2017 when enforcement agencies led by Bank Negara Malaysia, the country’s central bank, raided MBI’s offices, seized RM688,000, several luxury vehicles and moved to freeze bank accounts linked to the group.
But the amounts seized represented a very small fraction of funds of the estimated RM30 billion that Teow had allegedly embezzled.
What’s more, he, his son, another director and two companies were only fined RM20 million the following year for money laundering and other offences, causing widespread consternation among its betrayed Chinese depositors.
Teow, who had built strong connections with politicians in Penang and neighbouring Kedah, and the top brass in Malaysian police, continued to regularly shuttle between Penang and Dannok in southern Thailand, where MBI carried out business operations.
In October 2019, the MBI scandal turned into a diplomatic embarrassment for Malaysia when about 100 Chinese nationals gathered outside the Chinese Embassy in Kuala Lumpur to protest Kuala Lumpur’s inaction towards Teow.
At the time, relations between the Malaysian government under Mahathir Mohamad and Beijing were testy and Kuala Lumpur paid little attention to the problem.
In late 2020, Beijing raised the ante when it issued an Interpol Red Notice for Teow.
A Red Notice issued by Interpol is a law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition.
Little happened until July 2022 when the Thai police arrested Teow in Songkhla in southern Thailand for allegedly operating an illegal online casino.
MALAYSIA WANTED CUSTODY OF TEOW: OFFICIALS
The arrest triggered a little-known behind-the-scenes fight for Teow’s custody between Beijing and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Home Ministry officials noted.
Malaysia had made representations to get Teow extradited but China put up a more vigorous challenge with Thailand’s then-premier Srettha Thavisin, who eventually allowed for Beijing to take custody of the Malaysian fraudster in August 2024, according to the officials.
According to the Chinese media, Teow, who also goes by the name Zhang Yufa, was extradited under operation “Fox Hunt”, a codename for a sweeping campaign by China’s police to bring back financial crime suspects.
Teow was the first wanted person to be extradited from Thailand to China in 25 years, according to Chinese media reports.
Teow’s confinement in China has now resurrected the ghost of MBI that many Malaysians believed had been buried.
It also underscores the increasingly cordial ties between the Chinese and Malaysian governments and Kuala Lumpur’s role in assisting Beijing in cracking down on transnational cybercrime that targets its citizens.
Malaysian government officials noted that initial discussions with China were over how depositors who were duped could at least receive a portion of their money back.
But identifying monies tied to the MBI scam is currently the priority, together with identifying individuals connected to the scam, either through receiving funds as loans or in facilitating the laundering of the ill-gotten proceeds.
“It is going to be a complicated process because it is the first time that we are working this closely with China,” said a Home Ministry official.
Source : Channel News Asia
MBI Investigation Could Lead To Guan Eng Slash Fund For DAP – Also Known To Have Links To Kedah PAS Sanusi
27 March, 2025
According to Thick Brick Blogpost , Lim Guan Eng, his family and faction did poorly at the DAP’s central committee election. He survived at 26th spot, lost the Chairmanship and given face saving position as Adviser. His people have not given up and perhaps pondering a return.
Guan Eng’s Penang tunnel case is still on-going in court for any immediate change in fortune. In the meanwhile, the changing of the guard at DAP went through smoothly and new generation of leaders sprouting. Bukit Aman was reported moving in to investigate the money trail of Tedy Teow and talk is Guan Eng had dealings with Tedy.
Tedy is the founder of the infamous money game operator MBI Group. They operated a multi-level marketing (MLM) MCoin and Ponzi investment scam to swindle investors in Malaysia, China, Thailand, and Indonesia in the billions of Ringgit.
He was arrested in Thailand in 2022 after years on the run. Malaysia requested for his extradition to face charges of fraud and money laundering, but he ended up being extradited to China in August 2024.
Suddenly Bukit Aman called up corporate figures linked to the MBI money trail. One is believed to be linked to Ivory Property Berhad, one of the four property development company closely linked to Guan Eng.
Bukit Aman calls up corporate figures to assist in investigations on MBI’s money trail — sources
Police are believed to have called up several corporate figures in Kuala Lumpur and Penang in their investigations related to the money trail of the now-defunct pyramid scheme MBI.
Sources said that at least two corporate lawyers in Penang have been questioned, and documents related to property and share transactions dealing with MBI have been seized from their offices and homes.
“Among the files taken from the homes and offices are transactions involving the Bayan Mutiara development on Penang Island where a company with shareholders linked to MBI emerged as the major shareholders in 2018. The land is one of the most prized assets in Penang with a development potential of close to RM10 billion,” said a source.
According to sources, the operations were conducted by the Anti-Money Laundering Division from Bukit Aman that carried out simultaneous investigations in Kuala Lumpur and Penang. The operations started last week. Police officers visited the offices and homes as well as seized documents from the premises over the weekend.
This is the first major police operation on MBI and its money trail, following months of investigations on the money trail. Sources said the operations were carried out directly from Bukit Aman and caught many in the state by surprise.
The Bayan Mutiara project is a 102.6-acre mixed development project that was tendered out by Penang Development Corporation in 2011 for RM1.07 billion. Out of the 102.6 acres, 35 acres is to be reclaimed off the sea near the Penang Bridge.
Ivory Properties Group Bhd (KL:IVORY), a company linked to MBI, won the tender. Ivory Properties is the developer of Penang Times Square, which MBI was the anchor tenant of. The retail mall is now vacant.
MBI is also a major purchaser of other retail spaces and condominiums within the Penang Times Square development that has now stalled.
A few months after winning the tender in 2011, Ivory Properties partnered with Tropicana Corp Bhd (KL:TROP) for the Bayan Mutiara project. The mixed development was positioned as the biggest property development on the island and was called Penang World City. It was slated to be completed by 2020.
However, in 2018, both Ivory Properties and Tropicana Corp exited the Bayan Mutiara project due to financial constraints. They sold their stakes to Hemat Tuah Sdn Bhd, a company in which a brother of MBI founder Tedy Teow Wooi Huat is the major shareholder.
The Edge reported that Teow Wooi Pin, a brother of Tedy, held 45% in Hemat Tuah. Another individual, Tan Kim Hee, holding 15%, is said to be the brother-in-law of Tedy.
“The transactions between Ivory-Trop and Hemat Tuah were handled by the lawyers whom the police have also called up to assist in their investigation to uncover the money trail. The police have also taken files related to share transactions of private companies related to MBI that were handled by the lawyers,” said a source.
One of the lawyers held an advisory position in a leading business organisation in Penang while the other lawyer was a board member of companies linked to MBI.
Apart from the two lawyers, police have also called in for questioning two others involved in the development of the Bayan Mutiara project. One of them was a former director in Hemat Tuah and an influential figure in the property scene in Penang.
In Kuala Lumpur, it is learnt that police have also called in a major shareholder of several listed companies to assist in their investigations on the MBI money trail. The corporate figure is from Kedah and is said to have been used to have dealings with the key personalities of MBI.
“Police are trying to determine whether there was any MBI money in the listed companies,” said a source.
MBI, which was founded by Tedy, was a pyramid scheme that was based in Penang. Its core product was the trading of digital coins, called M-Coins, that was not sanctioned by Bank Negara Malaysia. Thousands of depositors stretching up to China were conned into placing deposits with the scheme.
At one stage, MBI was said to have collected several billions. But when the scheme collapsed in 2018 after a raid by Bank Negara, depositors were left in a lurch without any avenue to recover the money. The money frozen from the MBI Group International’s account was only RM177 million.
While Malaysian depositors of the scheme were largely inactive over the loss due to the collapse of MBI, depositors from China staged protests in Kuala Lumpur and filed legal suits here to recover their money.
Tedy himself fled to Danok, Thailand, in 2019. He was arrested by the Thai police in 2022 and extradited to China in August 2024.
Since Tedy is in China’s custody, the sudden call-up by Bukit Aman of the corporate lawyers could only indicate that China may have fed police with leads to pursue the case.
Chinese contractors were awarded tunnel and three road contracts for the Penang underground tunnel project. During the days leading to eventual investigation and prosecution of Guan Eng, the Chinese contractors pulled out from the project.
In his first week as Penang Chief Minister, Guan Eng passed a snide remark at China’s unofficial entourage. They took it in stride but sources claimed the Chinese bore a grudge when they were allegedly double crossed.
The Chinese had went deep in their follow-up investigation of the Penang underground tunnel. It is believed that it led to the controversial feasibility study payment and three roads projects paid to come out in the open.
In one of Guan Eng’s official visit to China as Minister of Finance, he was given a run around and unable to meet any Chinese official of significance. He ended holed up in a Shanghai hotel room throughout the visit. Annuar Musa claimed he was denied entry.
It is no more a secret that the Penang underground tunnel and the four property development companies dominating the Penang development scene were Guan Eng’s effort to create a political slush fund for DAP. If this blog knows, China would have known Guan Eng had dealings with MBI.
With police have to follow up on the lead from China, will Ivory Property ended up singing on Guan Eng and DAP?
It has been the talk in Penang that all the four property development companies aligned to Guan Eng faced some sort of business problems or legal lawsuits. One of the company known to be a hardcore Guan Eng supporter had an implosion of a family squabble that ended up with a divorce.
Another was Ewein Berhad, in which founder and executive Chairman was supposed to appear as the 15th prosection witness against Guan Eng but the key witness was found dead.
MBI is also known to have links to Widad Berhad, the company PAS’s Kedah Menteri Besar proudly announced to build the multi-billion project Langkasuka in Langkawi with investment from UAE. At the same time, Widad is linked to a Kedah UMNO leader.
Another company linked to MBI is a development company with project in Kulim, ECK Development. It means MBI could be involved in Sanusi’s favourite project, Kulim Airport.
Source : Thick Brick Blogspot
Friday, 30 May 2025
MBI scam seized loot now at RM3.8b in assets
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MBI scam seized loot now at RM3.8b in assets
KUALA LUMPUR, May 30, 2025: Police have to date seized RM3.8 billion in assets linked to its prove on MBI investment scams.
Bukit Aman commercial crime director Hasbullah Ali said police had seized and frozen additional assets worth RM527.5 million linked to the MBI International Group investment scam, raising the total value of seized assets in the case to RM3.8 billion.
To date, he said, a total of 17 suspects had been arrested and 988 bank accounts frozen.
No News Is Bad News reproduces below a news report on the police update on the MBI scam and our past posts:
RM3.8bil in assets seized in MBI investment scam probe
A total of 17 individuals have been arrested and 988 bank accounts frozen.
Bukit Aman commercial crime investigation department acting director Hasbullah Ali said the latest seizures followed the arrest of three individuals in Penang and Kuala Lumpur earlier this month. (Bernama pic)
KUALA LUMPUR: Police have seized and frozen additional assets worth RM527.5 million linked to the MBI International Group investment scam, raising the total value of seized assets in the case to RM3.8 billion.
Bukit Aman commercial crime investigation department (CCID) acting director Hasbullah Ali said the latest seizures followed the arrest of three individuals in Penang and Kuala Lumpur earlier this month, one of whom is a businessman with a “Tan Sri” title.
“Among the seized assets are 477 properties valued at approximately RM150 million, four condominium units worth RM12 million, as well as four luxury yachts and three passenger boats worth RM36.3 million,” Hasbullah said at a press conference at Menara KPJ here today.
He added that 37 bank accounts containing RM328 million were frozen. Other confiscated items include three luxury vehicles worth RM637,000, RM283,070 in cash, and various watches, jewellery, mobile phones and documents.
According to Hasbullah, five business entities tied to the scam have also been seized, including a durian plantation company, a property developer, and a hotel operator.
He said more arrests and asset seizures are expected as investigations are still ongoing.
When asked if any politicians were involved, Hasbullah said investigations have not found any evidence of a political connection, as yet.
The latest development is part of Op Northern Star, a major police operation targeting financial syndicates operating in the Klang Valley and northern Peninsular Malaysia.
To date, 17 individuals have been arrested and 988 bank accounts frozen under the operation. All suspects are believed to be linked to a cross-border Ponzi-style investment scheme operated by MBI group.
Scam call centres busted
Hasbullah also said two phone scam syndicates targeting Japanese nationals were busted in Kajang and Cheras on May 13. Devices worth RM25,000 were seized during the raids.
In Kajang, six Japanese nationals and two Chinese men were arrested at a three-storey bungalow used as a call centre. The syndicate, which had been active for about two months, used spoofed calls through the Bria Mobile app to impersonate Osaka police officers and trick victims into transferring money.
Two Chinese suspects were charged on May 22, while the six Japanese suspects are expected to be charged on June 3.
In Cheras, 11 individuals — seven Japanese and three Taiwanese — were arrested during raids at two condominium units. Police seized laptops, mobile phones, fake police uniforms, and documents worth RM20,000. The syndicate used apps such as Got Further and Swapface to impersonate law enforcement and extort cryptocurrency from victims.
Three Taiwanese suspects were charged on May 16, while the remaining eight individuals have been listed as prosecution witnesses.
In a separate case, Hasbullah said a special task force has been established and will be based at KLIA to combat haj package fraud during the pilgrimage season.
Hasbullah noted that while the number of cases has dropped from 11 in 2023 to four in 2024, the total losses increased to RM874,100. One case reported this year involved losses amounting to RM71,000.
Malaysia
Police arrest three more suspects in MBI Ponzi Scheme, seize assets worth over RM527 million
Authorities intensify crackdown on MBI Group International fraud network
Updated 59 minutes ago · Published on 30 May 2025 2:37PM
This latest operation brings the total value of frozen and seized assets to approximately RM3.8 billion - May 30, 2025
POLICE have arrested three additional individuals, including a person holding the title "Tan Sri," in connection with the MBI Group International Ponzi scheme. The arrests were made between May 1 and May 17, 2025, during operations in Kuala Lumpur and Penang.
The authorities have seized and frozen assets valued at over RM527 million, including four yachts and three passenger boats estimated at RM36.3 million, 477 properties worth approximately RM150 million, four condominiums valued at RM12 million, 37 bank accounts totaling RM328 million, and cash amounting to RM283,000.
Additionally, three luxury vehicles, two high-end watches, and five mobile phones were confiscated.
Acting Director of the Commercial Crime Investigation Department (JSJK) at Bukit Aman Datuk Muhammed Hasbullah Ali stated that the police are investigating the involvement of high-profile individuals, including politicians, in the syndicate.
He emphasised that the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) team is committed to investigating and taking action against anyone suspected of being involved, directly or indirectly, in the possession, transfer, use, or movement of funds derived from illegal activities.
This latest operation brings the total value of frozen and seized assets to approximately RM3.8 billion. Investigations reveal that many of the companies owned by the syndicate operated legally, primarily in the real estate development sector, and are among the largest housing developers in Malaysia.
The police continue to pursue leads and are prepared to act against any individuals or entities linked to the illegal activities associated with the MBI investment fraud. - May 30, 2025
Friday, 11 April 2025
RM3.17b MBI scam linked to PN MP?
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For image info, go to https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/730256
RM3.17b MBI scam linked to PN MP?
KUALA LUMPUR, April 12, 2025: The Coverage has reposted a blog post titled Cops Seize RM3.17 Billion In Assets Allegedly Linked To Scammer Connected To Perikatan Nasional MP.
No News Is Bad News has nothing to add to the post and we also reproduce two related news stories by TheEdge.
Cops Seize RM3.17 Billion In Assets Allegedly Linked To Scammer Connected To Perikatan Nasional MP
12 April, 2025
Chinese President, Xi Jin Peng will be making a three day official visit of Malaysia next week April 15th to 17th.
He was extended an invitation for the 50 year anniversary of Malaysia – China bilateral relation, however was represented instead by Prime Minister Li Qiang in June last year.
The visit in the midst of Trump triggered trade war to isolate China will draw attention from the foreign media and the US.
Certain quarter of Malaysians are getting cold feet and urge Anwar to reschedule the visit. Surprisingly its mostly Malaysian Chinese. And, there is certain segment of older generation Malays still stuck in the past to view China and DAP as communist.
Leading to Xi’s, whether by design or coincident, there have been major arrests related to China’s most wanted scammer, Malaysian Tedy Teow of MBI fame. The victims of his billion ringgit scam have mostly been Chinese national.
Police have seized and frozen assets worth more than RM3.17 billion linked to a Ponzi scheme, following a series of raids last month under an operation codenamed Op Northern Star, based on a Red Notice alert from Interpol.
Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain said the assets included illegal proceeds linked to a Ponzi-style investment scam known as “Pelaburan MBI”, which has a base in a neighbouring country.
He said the assets included 638 banking and share trading accounts containing over RM1.16 billion, 35 properties valued at over RM2 billion, 10 luxury vehicles, designer watches and handbags, jewellery, cash in multiple foreign currencies, as well as laptops and mobile phones.
Several important documents tied to the scam were also confiscated, Razarudin said.
He also said that seven men and one woman, all locals aged between 44 and 62, were arrested in the operation.
“The detainees included two businessmen and two lawyers, all four with the title ‘Datuk,” he added.
Razarudin said the suspects had been remanded for one to seven days for further investigation under Section 4(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
Words are one of the businessmen is a corporate player with link to an opposition MP.
Sources claimed he is a renown stock market manipulator and the phenomenon of share prices run-up upon disclosure of his interest in the company was described as an effect named after him.
According to an unnamed former investigator, the opposition MP linked to the arrested corporate player cum market manipulator received kickback from Tedy Teow before.
He was directly involve to arranged the release of few hundred millions of frozen MBI money prior to GE14.
There is the likelihood the stock manipulation was funded by Pelaburan MBI and the corporate player is a funder for the opposition leader.
Spreading the eggs in various baskets.
Source : Thick Brick Blogspot
Ghost of MBI reawakens, police raids rattle Penang
By M Shanmugam and Rosalynn Poh / The Edge Malaysia
08 Apr 2025, 05:50 pm
Now under receivership, the Penang Times Square mall was reportedly tied to the MBI scheme. (Photo by Sam Fong/The Edge)
This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on March 31, 2025 - April 6, 2025
JUST when it seemed that the news flow around the now- defunct MBI pyramid scheme was quieting down, following the extradition of its mastermind Tedy Teow to China last August, a series of raids carried out over the weekend of March 21 sent shock waves through Penang’s property sector.
The operations were conducted by the Anti-Money Laundering Division from Bukit Aman, sources tell The Edge.
The Edge has learnt that at least two corporate lawyers in Penang have been questioned, with documents related to property and share transactions involving MBI seized from their homes and offices.
Additionally, several prominent figures from the corporate world in Kuala Lumpur and Penang have been summoned by the police.
It is learnt that two of the corporate figures hail from Kedah. Both individuals own equity stakes in public-listed entities on Bursa Malaysia. One of them holds a majority stake in three listed companies and a minority interest in eight other companies.
According to sources, among the seized materials are those involving the Bayan Mutiara development in Penang, where a company linked to MBI became the major shareholder in 2018.
To recap, in 2018, Hemat Tuah Sdn Bhd acquired a controlling stake in Tropicana Ivory Sdn Bhd, a joint venture (JV) formed by Ivory Properties Group Bhd (KL:IVORY) and Tropicana Corp Bhd (KL:TROP) (formerly known as Dijaya Corp Bhd) to develop Penang World City (PWC).
The massive RM10 billion project in Bayan Mutiara was initially awarded to Ivory Properties, led by Datuk Low Eng Hock, before the company formed the JV with Tropicana Corp. Hemat Tuah paid RM126.7 million to take over Tropicana Ivory — 55% from Tropicana Corp (RM70.7 million) and 45% from Ivory Properties (RM56 million).
Major shareholders of Hemat Tuah include Koh Teck Ong, Lim Ah Chay, Lio Chee Yeong, Tan Kim Hee and Teow Wooi Pin. Wooi Pin, the elder brother of Tedy, holds a 45% stake in Hemat Tuah. Tan, believed to be Tedy’s brother-in-law, owns 10%.
Earlier reports indicated that Mutiara Metropolis Sdn Bhd was the developer of PWC.
A company search reveals that Mutiara Metropolis, formerly known as Tropicana Ivory, is wholly owned by Hemat Tuah. In December last year, The Edge reported that another local developer had taken over the PWC project, with construction going on at the site.
Other documents believed to have been taken by the authorities during the raid included a subscription agreement between Sunrise Manner Sdn Bhd, Atta Global Group Bhd, Tang Tiam Hok and Wan Nyuk Ming. Tang is a director of Hemat Tuah, a filing with the Companies Commission of Malaysia shows.
It is said that MBI money was in two listed companies in 2019 — Atta Global Group (now known as Mayu Global Group Bhd [KL:MAYU]) and Heng Huat Resources Group Bhd (now known as HHRG Bhd [KL:HHRG]). Both companies are now under new management and controlling shareholders.
A search on AskEdge shows Kim Hee is a substantial shareholder of Mayu Global, holding an 11.09% stake. The company changed its name in 2023.
The spotlight was cast on HHRG in 2020 when its then executive chairman Ooi Chieng Sim was among eight men charged with drug trafficking. Other documents believed to have been seized during the recent raid included a share sale and purchase agreement between Heng Huat Industries Holdings Sdn Bhd and Arah Kawasan Sdn Bhd.
Ivory Properties’ Penang Times Square mall (also known as M Mall 020) was reportedly tied to the MBI scheme. The mall, which had MBI as its anchor tenant until the scheme’s collapse in 2018, is now under receivership and has become almost deserted.
In the glory days of MBI, its members from China would put up at hotels owned by MBI, including the Vouk Hotel, while some stayed in MBI’s Desaku housing project in Karangan, Kulim, Kedah.
Back then, MBI Desaku was a bustling site with shops selling Chinese products, and houses were available for sale to MBI members with the option of paying deposits using M-Coins. However, the project is now described as abandoned with empty shops and food courts. The landowner and developer is ECK Development Sdn Bhd, led by its CEO Tan Sri Khor Eng Chuen.
Kedah-based ECK Development became a lead partner in Consortium Zenith Beijing Urban Construction Group Sdn Bhd (CZBUCG) after acquiring Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd (CZC) in 2021. In 2013, CZBUCG was awarded the RM6.3 billion Penang undersea tunnel and associated road projects, beating other contenders, namely China State Construction Engineering Corp Ltd & VST Cemerlang Sdn Bhd, Setia Precast Sdn Bhd, ECK Construction Sdn Bhd, Gamuda Bhd (KL:GAMUDA), Zambina Wawasan Sdn Bhd, IJM-CRGL Joint Ventures, Consortium Zenith BUCG Juteras & Sri Tinggi JV and WCTDaewoo Joint Ventures.
Consortium Zenith BUCG, a JV between Zenith Construction, China Railway Construction Corp Ltd, Beijing Urban Construction Group (BUCG), Sri Tinggi Sdn Bhd and Juteras Sdn Bhd, is overseeing the infrastructure project.
The massive infrastructure project includes building three highways to ease traffic congestion on Penang Island. They are a 4.2km bypass from Gurney Drive to Lebuhraya Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu, a 4.6km bypass from Lebuhraya Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu to Bandar Baru Air Itam, and a 12km paired road from Jalan Tanjung Bungah to Teluk Bahang.
A feasibility study that cost over RM300 million was conducted years back.
Recently, it was reported that the Penang government had approved a proposal to change the alignment of the third link, previously known as the undersea tunnel project. Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow confirmed that the state exco had authorised the project contractor CZC to continue conducting feasibility studies for the revised alignment. (See also “Shareholder tussle in HHRG escalates
Police seize over RM3.17b in assets, arrest eight linked to MBI Ponzi scheme
By Emir Zainul / theedgemalaysia.com
11 Apr 2025, 04:56 pm
The now-defunct pyramid scheme MBI was the anchor tenant of Penang Times Square, which is now vacant. (Photo by Sam Fong/The Edge)
KUALA LUMPUR (April 11): The Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) has seized and frozen assets valued at more than RM3.17 billion connected to a large-scale Ponzi scheme associated with the defunct MBI group. This follows a series of cross-border raids conducted last month under an operation codenamed “Op Northern Star”.
Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain confirmed in a statement on Friday that the operation, which took place on March 20, was initiated based on a Red Notice alert issued by Interpol.
The crackdown, spearheaded by the Anti-Money Laundering Criminal Investigation Division (AMLA) of Bukit Aman, targeted assets believed to be proceeds from a fraudulent investment scheme centred around MBI, which had been operating from a neighbouring country.
The police statement confirms a report published by The Edge Malaysia weekly in its March 31–April 6, 2025 issue, citing sources, that AMLA had led a series of raids in March related to the long-running MBI pyramid scheme.
According to the statement, eight Malaysian nationals — seven men and one woman, aged between 44 and 62 — were apprehended during the operation. Among those arrested were two businessmen and two lawyers who hold the “Datuk” title.
All suspects have been remanded for periods ranging from one to seven days, to assist with investigations under Section 4(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (Act 613).
The police confiscated a wide range of assets, including over 600 bank and share trading accounts holding more than RM1.16 billion, as well as 35 properties, with an estimated value of RM2.01 billion. Luxury items such as high-end vehicles, branded watches, designer handbags, jewellery, and electronic devices were also seized, along with cash in various currencies and a significant amount of important documents.
The total estimated value of the seized assets and frozen accounts amounted to RM3.17 billion. “All assets and items seized are believed to be proceeds derived from illegal gains linked to the fraudulent investment activities,” said Razarudin.
“PDRM will continue investigations into any individual or entity suspected of being directly or indirectly involved in acquiring, receiving, possessing, concealing, transferring, converting, moving in or out, using, or disposing of illicit proceeds from this fraudulent investment activity,” he added.
According to The Edge’s report, the raids uncovered new links between the MBI scheme and high-profile individuals and corporate interests, including several property and share transactions involving listed companies.
Documents seized reportedly include those connected to the RM10 billion Penang World City (PWC) development at Bayan Mutiara, which was once associated with Hemat Tuah Sdn Bhd — a company linked to MBI and controlled by family members of MBI founder Tedy Teow.
Authorities are also said to have obtained documents related to investments in companies such as Mayu Global Group Bhd (KL:MAYU) — formerly Atta Global, and HHRG Bhd (KL:HHRG) — formerly Heng Huat Resources Group Bhd, both of which are now under different management and controlling shareholders.
The MBI saga, which was previously thought to be nearing its conclusion following the extradition of its mastermind Teow to China in August last year, appears to be far from over. These recent enforcement efforts have renewed scrutiny of local entities and individuals who may still be entangled in the web of one of Malaysia’s largest investment frauds.
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