Tan Hui Leng
[email protected]
Sunshine Empire-4 charged in court
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Feb 3, 2009
4 charged over MLM scam
By Elena Chong
FOUR people were hauled to court on Tuesday on charges of being involved in a fraudulent investment scheme in connection with the controversial multi-level marketing firm Sunshine Empire.
Phang Wah, 49, better known as James Phang, his wife, Neo Kuon Huay, 46, Jackie Hoo Choon Cheat, 29, and Yong Wai Hong, 27, face between six and 20 charges each.
The prosecution alleges that Hoo, a director of Sunshine, abetted Phang and others to siphon $947,905 from the firm between December 2006 and August 2007.
Both men are said to being party to Sunshine's business when they knew it was fraudulently selling prime packages which included potential returns.
Phang, described as a manager, and Hoo are accused of failing to keep accounting and other records for financial year 2007.
Phang, who has the most charges, is said to have conspired with his wife, Ms Jenny Chan, an accounts clerk, and others to falsify accounts involving amounts of $20,000 to $245,000 on six occasions between December 2006 and August 2007.
Another charge states that he was a director of Empire Communication Technology when he authorised someone to falsely lodge a return to the Registrar of Companies on May 24, 2006.
Phang is also accused of having obscene and uncensored films at his Westwood Avenue home on Nov 13, 2007.
Yong was charged with six counts of authorising one Ng Chee Tiong to falsely lodge returns to the Registrar of Companies that shares in the Empire Investment Group, of which he was director, were allotted for cash.
Mr Subhas Anandan is representing all four, who are claiming trial.
Bail arguments will be heard later on Tuesday.
The cases have been fixed for a pre-trial conference on March 5.
A probe into Sunshine's affairs started in November 2007, two months after the company was placed on the investor alert list by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Sunshine was set up by Phang, who says on the company's website that he has almost 30 years' experience in retail, sales and multinational enterprise building.
Sunshine is reported to have attracted 20,000 clients here since it was set up in July 2006. -
FINALLY!!!
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woohoo
last time their agents claim they are innocent because police did not make a move on them
now good game
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WAY TO GO MLM!
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Has the long arm of the law finally caught up with the chief scamers in SE? Pity the folks who ploughed in thousands hoping for high returns.
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how can they cheat peoples money so openly and dun admit their mistakes when found last time.
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Originally posted by laurence82:
woohoo
last time their agents claim they are innocent because police did not make a move on them
now good game
I wonder what those agents have to say now.....
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sux c*cks & pussies...
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Feb 3, 2009Sunshine Empire saga4 offered $600k bail each
By Elena Chong, Courts Correspondent SUNSHINE Empire generated a revenue of $189 million in just over a year, a Deputy Public Prosecutor told a bail court on Tuesday.
Deputy Public Prosecutor April Phang was giving her reasons why prosecution was seeking a high bail of $800,000 for each of the three men, Phang Wah, Jackie Hoo and Yong Wai Hong, and $600,00 for Phang's wife, Neo Kuon Huay.
The four were charged on Tuesday morning with various offences under the Penal Code and Companies Act.
DPP Phang argued that Phang, 49, and Hoo, 29, faced serious charges, including criminal breach of trust as an agent amounting to almost $1 million.
The duo are also accused of running a fraudulent business of a money circulation scheme involving millions of dollars raised from the general public.
With a mere paid-up capital of $150,000, Sunshine managed to collect $189 million between August 2006 and November 2007.
Phang's wife's charges of falsifying accounts totalled more than $592,896. The 46-year-old also faces one charge of making a false declaration amounting to $100,000.
Yong, 27, is accused of falsely declaring amounts of about $1.45 million. The false declarations had given participants the false sense that Sunshine's affiliate companies were strong financially, said DPP Phang.
She said Yong, chairman/chief executive officer of a Hongkong-listed company known as Emcom International, travelled frequently and might choose to remain in Hongkong and not return.
Mr Subhas Anandan, together with Mr Noor Mohamed Marican, argued that $300,000 bail each for Phang and Hoo, $150,000 for Neo, and $60,000 for Yong would be sufficient as they had roots in Singapore and wanted to stay here to clear their names.
District Judge John Ng set bail at $600,000 for each of them. Their passports were impounded.
'The charges against each of the accused person cannot be looked at in isolation. The charges are serious in nature and the quantum involved is substantial,'' he said.
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Originally posted by Nikonman:
Feb 3, 2009
4 charged over MLM scam
By Elena Chong
FOUR people were hauled to court on Tuesday on charges of being involved in a fraudulent investment scheme in connection with the controversial multi-level marketing firm Sunshine Empire.
Phang Wah, 49, better known as James Phang, his wife, Neo Kuon Huay, 46, Jackie Hoo Choon Cheat, 29, and Yong Wai Hong, 27, face between six and 20 charges each.
The prosecution alleges that Hoo, a director of Sunshine, abetted Phang and others to siphon $947,905 from the firm between December 2006 and August 2007.
Both men are said to being party to Sunshine's business when they knew it was fraudulently selling prime packages which included potential returns.
Phang, described as a manager, and Hoo are accused of failing to keep accounting and other records for financial year 2007.
Phang, who has the most charges, is said to have conspired with his wife, Ms Jenny Chan, an accounts clerk, and others to falsify accounts involving amounts of $20,000 to $245,000 on six occasions between December 2006 and August 2007.
Another charge states that he was a director of Empire Communication Technology when he authorised someone to falsely lodge a return to the Registrar of Companies on May 24, 2006.
Phang is also accused of having obscene and uncensored films at his Westwood Avenue home on Nov 13, 2007.
Yong was charged with six counts of authorising one Ng Chee Tiong to falsely lodge returns to the Registrar of Companies that shares in the Empire Investment Group, of which he was director, were allotted for cash.
Mr Subhas Anandan is representing all four, who are claiming trial.
Bail arguments will be heard later on Tuesday.
The cases have been fixed for a pre-trial conference on March 5.
A probe into Sunshine's affairs started in November 2007, two months after the company was placed on the investor alert list by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Sunshine was set up by Phang, who says on the company's website that he has almost 30 years' experience in retail, sales and multinational enterprise building.
Sunshine is reported to have attracted 20,000 clients here since it was set up in July 2006.I like his name....foolproof name....LOL
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Originally posted by fudgester:
I wonder what those agents have to say now.....
They will claim verdict is not passed yet. Their great CEO is still innocent and thoer sunshine empire is good. Quick quick come buy my product..... -
Originally posted by CannyOng:
They will claim verdict is not passed yet. Their great CEO is still innocent and thoer sunshine empire is good. Quick quick come buy my product.....this is the scary part of being human
if you invested heavily in something, you will want believe in it, against all hard facts
and then there are others, because they were doing similar stuff, they support these people, fellow networkers, as brothers and sisters
stupidity is scary
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they hired a good lawyer (:
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nope
subhas anandan is well known for defending hopeless case
straits time or new paper ran an article on him last year
i think most went to the gallows
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Good that at last CAD has finish the investigation...but who knows how long the hearing going to drag....another 1 year perhaps?
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Originally posted by laurence82:
nope
subhas anandan is well known for defending hopeless case
straits time or new paper ran an article on him last year
i think most went to the gallows
cos hopeless le mah. . .
i wanna buy his book. . . -
Read this: http://www.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/gem/20090203/GLN20090203100.pdf
Quote:
The board of directors (the “Board”) of Emcom International Limited (the “Company”) would like to inform the shareholders of the Company (the “Shareholders”) and the investment public that on 3 February 2009, the Company was notified by Mr. Yong Wai Hong, the chairman and executive director (“Mr. Yong”) of the Company that as the director of a private group which registered in Singapore
named Empire Investment Group Pte Limited, (“Empire Group”) that he was charged by the Commercial Affair Department for authorizing the corporate secretary to falsely lodge the companies’ information
to the Registrar of Companies that the allotted but unpaid shares in the Empire Group were allotted for cash and these cases had been fixed for a pre-trial conference on 5 March 2009.
Unquote.
The only shareholder in Empire Communications is James Phang. The main shareholder of Emcom International is also james Phang. So I wonder on the use of the term.. "Private Group"
And btw, before the New Year, Emcom International was given Interlocutory Judgment (meaning provisionally considered lose case)against the HK$180 million court case they were being sued for, but they are appealing, of course.
Source: http://www.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/gem/20090107/GLN20090107035.pdf
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Congrats mr phang for getting 18 charges + 2 of possession of pornographic material.
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http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_334011.htmlFeb 4, 2009Sunshine chief charged <!--<span class="timestamp">10 min</span>-->
He and three others are accused of running a fraudulent scheme
<!-- headline one : start --> <!-- headline one : end --> <!-- Author --> By Lorna Tan & Elena Chong <!-- show image if available -->
Sunshine's president (Asia Pacific) Jackie Hoo Choon Cheat (left), 29, faced 10 charges including running a fraudulent business. Two other people, including Phang's wife, also faced related charges in court yesterday. -- ST PHOTO<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--> THE man behind multilevel marketer Sunshine Empire, which pulled in $189 million from investors here, is facing 20 charges, including running a fraudulent business and criminal breach of trust.
James Phang Wah, 49, appeared in the Subordinate Court yesterday, more than a year after the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) launched a probe into the alleged scam which attracted tens of thousands of unwitting investors.
<!-- Vodcast --> <!-- Background Story --> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;}
MLM firm offered hefty rebates
James Phang, who once claimed to be better than Warren Buffett, stands accused of running a Ponzi-like scheme involving millions of dollars raised from the public. -- ST PHOTO: LIM WUI LIANG
JAMES Phang was in the news back in October 2007 after his multilevel marketing firm Sunshine Empire was placed on alert lists by the authorities both here and in Malaysia.Another man, Sunshine's president (Asia Pacific) Jackie Hoo Choon Cheat, 29, faced 10 charges including running a fraudulent business. Two other people, including Phang's wife, also faced related charges in court yesterday.
The main charge alleged that the two central figures were running a Ponzi-like scheme involving many millions of dollars raised from members of the public.
In Ponzi schemes, investors are lured to hand over cash on the promise of high returns - but the returns simply come from funds pumped in by new investors.
The charges allege that Sunshine, based at Toa Payoh HDB Hub, was selling packages which offered returns in the form of cash rebates. The returns were paid from the proceeds of packages bought by later Sunshine participants.
According to Deputy Public Prosecutor April Phang, the revenue generated by Sunshine, which has a paid-up capital of $150,000, between August 2006 and November 2007 totalled $189 million.
It is believed that many investors have their money stuck with the company and it is unclear whether they can get it back in full.
Phang and Hoo also faced charges of failing to maintain proper accounts.
The criminal breach of trust charges involve nearly $1 million. Criminal breach of trust takes place when an offender has the responsibility of holding money or assets on behalf of others but misuses the funds by using them for other purposes. The maximum penalty is life imprisonment, along with possible fines.
In addition, Phang faced six charges of falsifying accounts and two related to possessing obscene films. Phang's wife, Neo Kuon Huay, 46, was charged with falsifying accounts in relation to sums exceeding $592,800.
A director of Empire Investment Group, Yong Wai Hong, 27, was charged with making false declarations involving $1.45 million. This had allegedly given Sunshine participants the false sense that its affiliated firms have strong financial standing.
Yong is also chairman and chief executive of a Hong Kong-listed firm Emcom International, which was acquired using Sunshine's sale proceeds.
The prosecutor, Ms Phang, added that the bulk of Phang and Neo's assets are in Hong Kong bank accounts.
Three of the accused, apart from Yong, were arrested on Monday afternoon and spent that night in remand. Yong was on police bail then.
Ms Phang stated that all four are considered a 'high flight risk' as CAD has information that they are involved in some business in Hong Kong.
Their passports were impounded and bail was set at $600,000 for each of them. Last evening, they were released on bail and were driven away in a convoy of Mercedes-Benzes and BMWs.
They were represented by lawyers Noor Mohamed Marican and Subhas Anandan.
Phang, who has four children aged 15 to 23, was addressed as 'Lao Da' ('chief' in Mandarin) as he got into his car.
The Empire Group Alliance, a group spanning several Asian countries, was set up in 2003. It claimed to have interests in network marketing, entertainment, energy, real estate and telecommunications.
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She emptied her life savings
MLM company’s clients look for answers as case is heard in the courts:
Tan Hui Leng
[email protected]LURED by promises of “good returns” and self-confessed “greed”, Madam Wong emptied her life savings of over $60,000 into multilevel marketing (MLM) company Sunshine Empire in 2007. Despite initial scepticisms, the 61-year-old told Today she was swayed by the convincing seminars and awestruck by the lavish furnishings at the company’sToa Payoh Hub headquarters. “It was always very crowded and you could always see a lot of cash being handled at the counters,” she said. In July that year, Mdm Wong bought two “gold packages” worth over $11,000 each. Unknown to her husband, she terminated her insurance policies and closed her fixed deposit accounts to take up another four gold packages later, with some of the money coming from his savings. She also sold packages to her friends and siblings, some of whom took out loans to buy into the scheme, which required investors to purchase Sunshine’s gold packages involving the trading of online goods, such as health supplements in return for hefty cash rebates. MLM companies, which are legal in Singapore,let people pay cash for the right to market productsto others. Those involved are also paid for recruiting marketers. Another client, Mr Goh Choon Seng, had a similar story to tell — he bought one “gold package” in September 2007. Both Mdm Wong and Mr Goh saw returns on their investments initially, but these stopped abruptly in October that year after the Criminal Affairs Department steppedin to investigate the company over concerns thatSunshine was acting as an investment fund withoutproper authorisation. Sunshine is part of the Empire Group Alliance. On Tuesday, its founder and international president James Phang Wah, 49, was among four people charged in court for alleged criminal breach of trust and falsifying accounts, among other offences. As the case is heard in the courts, Madam Wong said: “I really don’t know what to do, I’m very sad over the affair as I’ve even dragged my siblings into it. “I have tried asking my ‘upline’ but he doesn’t seem to have answers.” Neither does she have answers for those “downline”. An “upline” is the person who recruited her into the scheme, while those “downline” are the ones she roped into the programme. The company’s office at Toa Payoh was empty when Today visited yesterday. Set up in July 2006, Sunshine Empire had reportedly attracted 20,000 people as ofOctober 2007, when the Monetary Authority of Singapore put the company on its Investor Alert List. Entities on the list are not authorised by MAS toconduct regulated activities such as financial services. -
Hope that it will pull the trigger on MLM....prevent illegal MLM in sg been a craze
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how come oli 4 kena sued nia...wat abt the others that mislead people into this scam??
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YouTube Video
A controversial video titled 'Sunshine Empire Car Achievers 2007' was uploaded onto Youtube on October 09, 2008[14]. The video was categorized as Comedy by the owner 'mlmgod'[15] who also indicated that the video is 'Back online, due to popular demand...' The video has a unnamed narrator introducing the video in mandarin. The opening shot shows a BMW car that is registered as 'SGT 8554C' being driven. 17 Sunshine Empire Merchants were subsequently introduced with their vehicle and each Merchant had a short 'thank you' speech in mandarin except Andrew Boo, Ho Ming Jie, 22, Tan Yuan Jie, 23. A Volkswagon Beetle was also seen and linked to Loy Mei Khay, 24 the first female to appear in the video who also thanked 'Mr Jackie'. A BMW Z4 linked to Xu Jia Yuan was not seen clearly in the video and a Mercedes Benz linked to Sally Cheng & Goh Tiam Hai was also not seen. The second last closing shot shows a BMW car that is registered 'SFX 4086D' being driven along roads in Singapore. The video end with the Logo of Sunshine Empire being shown. No specific details were given by the 17 merchants on how they attained or achieved their car, their roles or position in Sunshine Empire were also not given. The video has a total view of 5783 as of February 2009. It is notable that for those appearing in the video, that the first person practically all of the recipients professed their gratitude to, was James Phang with only a few exceptions. The method of addressing him as "Lao Da" were existent in the days of James' earlier MLM incarnation NOP, which folded up in 2001.
In order of appearance Name Sex Age Ken Pang Zhiwei M 26 Robert Wang M Unknown Ron Lee Wai Kin M 27 Soh Guan Xiang M 24 Andrew Boo M Unknown Jason Loh M 24 Loy Mei Khay F 24 Oh Ming Jie M 22 Rick Tan Chuan Choon M 26 Ang Zhao Hui M 21 Tan Yuan Jie M 23 Benny Lee M 23 Alex Leow M 26 Xu Jia Yuan M 26 Desmond Teo M 29 Sally Cheng & Goh Tiam Hai F, M Unknown -
Ken Pang Zhiwei, Male, 26
Robert Wang, Male, Unknown
Ron Lee Wai Kin, Male, 27
Soh Guan Xiang, Male, 24
Andrew Boo, Male, Unknown
Jason Loh, Male, 24
Loy Mei Khay, Female, 24
Oh Ming Jie, Male, 22
Rick Tan Chuan Choon, Male, 26
Ang Zhao Hui, Male, 21
Tan Yuan Jie, Male, 23
Benny Lee, Male, 23
Alex Leow, Male, 26
Xu Jia Yuan, Male, 26
Desmond Teo, Male, 29
Sally Cheng & Goh Tiam Hai, Female, Male, Unknown
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Originally posted by laurence82:
She emptied her life savings
MLM company’s clients look for answers as case is heard in the courts:
Tan Hui Leng
[email protected]LURED by promises of “good returns” and self-confessed “greed”, Madam Wong emptied her life savings of over $60,000 into multilevel marketing (MLM) company Sunshine Empire in 2007..Despite initial scepticisms, the 61-year-old told Today she was swayed by the convincing seminars and awestruck by the lavish furnishings at the company’sToa Payoh Hub headquarters..“It was always very crowded and you could always see a lot of cash being handled at the counters,” she said..In July that year, Mdm Wong bought two “gold packages” worth over $11,000 each. Unknown to her husband, she terminated her insurance policies and closed her fixed deposit accounts to take up another four gold packages later, with some of the money coming from his savings..She also sold packages to her friends and siblings, some of whom took out loans to buy into the scheme, which required investors to purchase Sunshine’s gold packages involving the trading of online goods, such as health supplements in return for hefty cash rebates..MLM companies, which are legal in Singapore,let people pay cash for the right to market productsto others. Those involved are also paid for recruiting marketers..Another client, Mr Goh Choon Seng, had a similar story to tell — he bought one “gold package” in September 2007..Both Mdm Wong and Mr Goh saw returns on their investments initially, but these stopped abruptly in October that year after the Criminal Affairs Department steppedin to investigate the company over concerns thatSunshine was acting as an investment fund withoutproper authorisation..Sunshine is part of the Empire Group Alliance. On Tuesday, its founder and international president James Phang Wah, 49, was among four people charged in court for alleged criminal breach of trust and falsifying accounts, among other offences..As the case is heard in the courts, Madam Wong said: “I really don’t know what to do, I’m very sad over the affair as I’ve even dragged my siblings into it..“I have tried asking my ‘upline’ but he doesn’t seem to have answers.”.Neither does she have answers for those “downline”..An “upline” is the person who recruited her into the scheme, while those “downline” are the ones she roped into the programme..The company’s office at Toa Payoh was empty when Today visited yesterday. Set up in July 2006, Sunshine Empire had reportedly attracted 20,000 people as ofOctober 2007, when the Monetary Authority of Singapore put the company on its Investor Alert List..Entities on the list are not authorised by MAS toconduct regulated activities such as financial services.which date was this article being published on?