A prominent business couple has been accused of cheating more than 200 investors by dropping the names of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, his wife Rosmah Mansor and the Finance Ministry, among others.

MIC treasurer-general S Vell Paari, in a press conference today, revealed a 32-minute audio recording of a purported conversation between G Gnanaraja and representatives of a foreign exchange investment company.

Among the claims purportedly made by Gnanaraja was that his foundation - Yayasan Usaha Ventures Malaysia - was linked to the Finance Ministry.

Both Gnanaraja and his wife Geethanjali G however denied the allegations, saying there was “absolutely no truth” in the claims.

“We did not cheat and had never been part of such cheating. We consider such allegations to be defamatory,” the couple said in their joint statement.

Vell Paari during the press conference said the couple had teamed up with the foreign exchange investment company, purportedly to obtain a banking licence.

The plan was for the foundation to become the holding company of the business.

But for the foundation to obtain a banking licence, it needed to show a turnover of RM50 million.

For this purpose, Vell Paari claimed the couple told the foreign exchange investment company to instruct its investors to deposit funds directly into the foundation.

The company had then deposited RM5 million into the foundation in June and an additional RM2.2 million was deposited separately by investors associated with the company.

This was the alleged arrangement to show that the foundation had strong finances, and the couple had purportedly promised to eventually return the entire amount of RM7.2 million.

However, last month, they only returned RM5 million to the company, with the balance of RM2.2 million yet to be paid to the respective investors.

Nevertheless, the couple in their denial said they only came to know later that the foreign exchange investment company had, without their consent and knowledge, made an appeal on the Internet for investments to be deposited into their foundation.

After discovering the deposits, the couple said their lawyers dealt with the company’s law firm to seek for the list of depositers.


“Our lawyers also made it clear that Yayasan has the funds and is ready to return the RM2.2 million in full; we needed the list of depositors to ensure full and proper return of all those monies.

“Our lawyers emphasised the need for this, or else it may be necessary to resort to court proceedings to ensure that the deposit of each genuine investor is fully returned. However, to date, there has been no response by that law firm,” they said.

The couple also said that they had sought the assistance of a bank and were awaiting information from the bank on the matter.

Vell Paari had said that as an MIC leader, it was his duty to clear the names of the prime minister and his wife as the accused couple had used the BN chairperson’s name to their advantage.

He also claimed that he was threatened by the couple when he insisted that they return the remaining RM2.2 million.

“Indians were tricked, Indians with poor income. I don’t have any issue with them (the couple) but after I found this out, I just can’t let this go on unattended,” said Vell Paari.

The MIC leader said he had received a legal notice from the couple who told him to be careful in the things he said at today’s press conference or risk getting sued.

Former MIC treasurer-general R Ramanan, who was also at the press conference, said apart from Vell Paari, he and his special officer had also received the legal notice.

“I want to give one warning - don’t try to threaten anyone here.

“My challenge to the lawyer is for them to sue me. Vell Paari and I will go to court and prove our case,” said Ramanan.

Legal action

Meanwhile, lawyer L Prakash will be representing the investors who will initiate legal action against the couple.

Ramanan said he and Vell Paari will bear all the legal fees.

The couple, on the other hand, said they have instructed their lawyers to advise and take the necessary court proceedings.

“We want to be clear also that we also reserve the right to sue any other person if the defamatory statements are circulated or published, including in any report in the media or in any internet posting.”

Investors who had reportedly been victimised included cancer patients, students and pensioners.

An investor who was allegedly scammed said he had invested RM4,000 and received a return of RM6,000.

Benedict Chris, 23, was promised that the sum he invested would double in four months.

The student said his single mother had became convinced upon seeing the initial returns and had invested RM12,000 but had yet to receive anything back in return.

Although he had received some returns from his investment, Benedict said he had come today as apart from his mother, many of his friends who had used their National Higher Education Fund Corporation loans to invest in the scheme had also been affected.

S Suyampraghsam, 61, had invested RM280,000 of his pension and Employees Provident Fund (EPF) funds into the foundation.

Having received back over RM100,000 from the scheme, the pensioner however said that the last payment he received was in June.

“As long as I get my capital back, it’s enough,” he said.

Malaysiakini had withheld the couple’s names in an earlier version. Malaysiakini has now released their names after their response.