A shocking scam involving a woman claiming to be a luxury watch expert has left around 10 individuals out of pocket by more than RM3 million.
The victims, drawn in by the woman’s seemingly credible profile, were left devastated when she vanished and abruptly shut down her business in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, last year.
One of the victims, a businessman who preferred to be known only as Rozai, 50, said he and his wife met the woman about three years ago while running a business in the same building.
As reported by Harian Metro, their dealings with her initially appeared legitimate.
In 2023, I pawned two luxury watches worth hundreds of thousands for business capital, and at that time there was no problem; I even got the watches back after the pawn period,” he explained.
However, things took a turn for the worse last year.
Around the middle of last year, Rozai pawned two additional luxury watches worth RM186,000 and received RM55,000 in return.
However, in December, he was taken aback when the woman suddenly closed her shop and all the items inside vanished.
Despite making several attempts to contact her and even trying to locate her in person, Rozai was unable to reach her.
Rozai’s losses amounted to about RM110,000 after the woman absconded with his watches.
He has since filed a police report at the Petaling Jaya District Police Headquarters in March.
Another left with partial payments and no watches
Another victim, identified as Liang, 42, suffered an even greater loss, handing over roughly RM2 million to the woman to purchase luxury watches supposedly belonging to her clients.
Liang explained that he met the woman two years ago through business channels and was convinced to buy six luxury watches valued at RM2 million in December last year.
She only delivered five watches, saying the customer had forgotten to bring the last one and promised to deliver it later. I trusted her and made the full payment,” he said.
Liang was also persuaded to purchase additional watches in early January totalling over RM650,000, with the woman assuring him she would assist in reselling them.
Unfortunately, Liang only received partial payments from the sales before the woman disappeared at the end of January.
After numerous unsuccessful attempts to locate her, he lodged a police report in February.
The woman is alleged to have fled with six of his luxury watches and RM510,000 in cash from the sale proceeds.
Calls for action and justice
Datuk Seri Michael Chong, Chief of MCA’s Public Complaints Bureau, urged authorities to take swift action in investigating the scam that caused millions in losses.
He also called on other victims who have yet to come forward to report their cases to the police to aid in the ongoing investigations.
This is a serious offence affecting many individuals, and we hope the police can bring the perpetrator to justice,” he said during the press conference.
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