SHAH ALAM (Sept 30): Genneva Sdn Bhd, the company behind a massive gold investment scam, has been wound up by the High Court here, which could see victims recouping their losses.
In her brief judgment on Wednesday, judge Wan Fadhilah Nor Wan Idris found that the company, which had been convicted for unlawful deposit-taking, had lost its foundation as it had ceased operations for many years and lacked the licences and permits to resume its original business.
The court also noted the deficiencies in its records and that the company did not have a functioning board of directors.
The court granted the winding-up order and confirmed interim liquidator Wong Weng Foo to his role in dissolving the firm.
Ng Wan Yee, who holds a major stake of 750,000 shares in the company, had moved to wind up the company in August 2024, to prevent other company directors from removing more than RM21 million in released company assets.
The move follows a Sessions Court order on June 28, 2024, that revoked seizure orders under anti-money laundering laws on millions of ringgit and approximately 28.3kg of gold bars.
In her petition, Wan Yee said there was a "high likelihood" that functional directors or other relevant parties might dissipate these assets for personal benefit rather than settling claims of thousands of investors.
She claimed that some directors had already attempted to "siphon monies" under the guise of paying professional fees.
An opposing creditor, Liew Chio Chuan, a 25% shareholder of Genneva, had challenged the appointment of Wong, arguing there was "material non-disclosure" by Wan Yee and that there was "no real danger" of assets being lost before a formal hearing before the court.
Central to the dispute was the movement of funds just days before the petition was filed.
Records show that following the release of the seizure orders, Genneva's directors had authorised the transfer of RM11,659,661.20 from accounts at Maybank and Public Bank to a stakeholder account held by the company’s long-time solicitors, Messrs Gooi & Azura.
The solicitors and Maybank have justified the transfers, citing a board resolution dated June 26, 2024, and "letters of authorisation" dating back to 2016. They maintain the bank was unaware of the pending winding-up petition at the time.
Genneva and its top executives were found guilty in August 2020 of illegally taking tens of million in deposits. The company was fined RM450 million and various executives were also jailed and slapped with fines amounting to hundreds of millions of ringgit.
Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad launched Genneva's "syariah-compliant" gold trading scheme on Dec 15, 2010.