Company manager loses RM512,000 for purchase of non-existent bauxite AP

KUANTAN: A company manager has lodged a police report claiming to have lost RM512,000 after being deceived into buying an Approved Permit (AP) for bauxite which actually did not exist.

Pahang Commercial Criminal Investigation head Supt Mohd Wazir Mohd Yusof said the victim, aged 52, claimed that he and three partners befriended a man in early 2017 who claimed to be able to get them an AP for bauxite from Kuantan.

Following discussions, he said, the victim claimed that on Jan 10, 2017, his company then agreed to buy the AP for RM450,000, which was at RM9 per tonne, and was asked to pay RM10,000 in legal fee.

The victim claimed that in May and August the same year, the suspect, aged 31, asked him to pay RM12,000 for the permit renewal and in June the same year, to pay RM20,000 for bauxite royalty.

"The victim claimed that he also lost RM20,000 after opening a new company, as advised by the suspect, to handle the bauxite export business, after one of his partners disappeared," he said in a statement today.

Mohd Wazir said the victim lodged the police report after feeling that he had been cheated as he had yet to receive the AP after waiting for more than three years.

In another case, a 55-year-old contractor lost RM10,500 through online purchase of a backhoe after watching the advertisement on a social website early this month.

He said the victim claimed he made the dealing for purchase of the heavy machinery with a man, who claimed to be from Ayer Tawar, Perak, who agreed to sell it for RM40,000.

"The victim claimed he was then asked to make advance payment of RM8,000, which he did in two transactions, last April 11 and 14, to a given account number, and was asked to make another payment of RM2,500 for delivery of the machinery to Kuantan," he said.

He said the victim claimed he had yet to receive the machine and lodged the police report after feeling that he had been cheated.

-- BERNAMA