Cops to quiz several Penang-based companies again

GEORGE TOWN: Just when many thought the ghost of Mobility Beyond Imagi­na­tion (MBI) had been laid to rest, news about the ponzi scheme has resurfaced.

Sources said the Bukit Aman Anti-Money Laundering division is ready to pay another round of visits to several Penang-based companies previously associated with MBI.

It is understood that police have obtained fresh intelligence from their Chinese counterparts and several suspects arrested via Ops Northern Star in April and May.

“The mastermind, Tedy Teow, had formed a business pyramid comprising proxies to handle his investments worth billions, including lands, properties and luxury items,” the source claimed.

“With him (Teow) as the captain of the ship, family members and close friends were positioned at the top of the MBI chart.

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“The main task of his lieutenants was to ensure all the major property projects in Malaysia and Thailand run smoothly without any hitches.”

MBI founder Teow, who is now in custody in China, launched his MBI empire back in 2009.

“His modus operandi was to introduce the Hawala system to investors to transfer money internationally,” the source added.

Hawala is an informal method of transferring money without any physical money actually moving.

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Once the money had been bankrolled into several MBI accounts, it is understood that lawyers would do the screening and documentation before giving the nod for partial payments to keep investors happy.

To lure more rich investors, free holidays were offered to destinations like Italy and Dubai. All it took for investors was to top up their investments by up to RM100,000.

Teow had crafted the MBI’s image as a legitimate conglomerate with interests in property, including high-end residential and retail spaces across Malaysia and in Danok, Thailand.

“They were very professional with many teams of agents to manage investors’ accounts.

“They operated from rented offices, owned restaurant chains and travelled in multiple luxury cars,” another source claimed.

One mega project now under scrutiny is the proposed development on reclaimed land near Pulau Jerejak located off the coast of Penang island.

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow recently said the Penang Develop­ment Corporation (PDC) surrendered documents, which included minutes of meetings and financial records related to the Penang World City (PWC) project, to the Bukit Aman special task force on July 18.

“The documents concerned payments made to PDC for the purchase of land by Mutiara Metropolis Sdn Bhd (MMSB), formerly known as Tropicana Ivory Sdn Bhd.

“The focus of the investigation, as conveyed to PDC, is to examine whether any of the funds paid to PDC by MMSB between 2011 and 2019 may have been linked to the MBI scam,” Chow told a press conference in Komtar last month.

Teow’s elder brother, Wooi Pin, and his brother-in-law, Tan Kim Hee, were believed to be among the partners in the mega development project first launched in 2011.

It was reported that police had detained Tan on April 2 to assist with the MBI probe.

He was released five days later, but his company’s bank accounts totalling some RM10mil were frozen.

In addition, police seized two luxury vehicles – a Mercedes-Benz GLE 450 Coupe and a BMW 330Li.

So far, police have detained 17 suspects, including several high-profile real estate magnates from Penang. 

Besides Malaysians, some two million Chinese nationals, mostly from the Chongqing province, had reportedly lost over 55bil yuan (RM32.4bil) in the MBI scheme.

In their desperate bid to recover their investments, some of the investors even flew to Malaysia to search for Teow in 2019.

Through Interpol, the Chinese police then issued a red notice on Nov 9, 2020, to seek the arrest of Teow.

With the authorities hot on his heels, he then fled to Thailand but was later arrested in July 2022.

In August 2024, Teow became the first wanted person to be extradited from Thailand to China in 25 years, according to Chinese media reports.

Teow, who also went by the name Zhang Yufa, was extradited under operation “Fox Hunt”, a codename for the sweeping campaign by China’s police to bring back financial criminals. 

Now in custody in China, Teow faces life imprisonment if convicted of fraud under the Anti-Money Laundering Law.