Victims warn against renovation scam after losing more than RM1m

• They found the company through a social media platform listing renovation services

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 21): A group of property owners have voiced their grievances through a media conference recently to warn the public against a renovation company alleged to have scammed them more than RM1 million in total.

Arranged by DAP vice-chairman and Seputeh member of parliament Teresa Kok, the press conference was published on her Facebook.

Speaking on behalf of five other victims comprising individuals and couples, Nigel Ong, 37, said they found the company through a social media platform listing renovation services.

After stating his budget on the platform, a number of companies tendered for the job, and eventually he had chosen this company, whose website looked professionally-designed with outstanding reviews and credible pictures of past works.

Ong, who is a medical doctor, said the company’s boss did meet up with him at the renovation site to discuss the works and appeared very professional at first.

He even assured Ong, saying, “We would adhere to your budget.”

However, after paying a 50% deposit, amounting to RM100,000, Ong said the company started some minimal hacking works, and then, “nothing was done for three to four months”.

Within that time, the renovation work was supposed to be overseen by an interior designer, but after several complaints on the slow progress, she would claim she herself had not been paid by the company. Upon site visit, “all the Indon workers cried to us” saying they had not been paid, Ong recounted.  

The liaising was passed to another girl, who kept coming up with a lot of excuses. Eventually, “she told me this director has passed away. [Then she] blocked me – no more news”, and “my house was abandoned”.

Upon investigation, Ong found out the man who claimed to be the director had been declared bankrupt.

“He would use somebody’s name to set up a company.  He [had told] us he [had] a furniture factory in Sungai Buloh but we found out he [was] not the owner. In fact, the owner has made a police report [because] he [had been] conned of RM150,000 – [the director] took all the furniture but did not pay him,” said Ong.

Meanwhile, Kok Cheng Soi, 45, and wife Tan Jo Lynn, 40, said they had paid RM197,000 as deposit. 

“He actually came and [did] our house. In November, they asked for another 40%, [claiming] they have done 50% of the work, but when we went to the site, it was not even 50% done,” said Tan, adding that the company argued that the progress was measured by items, and “that if they start on anything, it is considered done”.

“I spoke to the site supervisor. He and his own workers confirm that it’s only 20% done,” Tan said.

Tan said they were asked to pay the remaining amount before the renovation work could continue, but when they refused to do so until they could meet the company owner to clarify issues on site, he did not turn up.

Tan said subsequently, the company’s rented office was closed, all its social media accounts were disabled, and all its numbers became uncontactable.

Another couple, Prasad and his wife, Dr Sri Devi, said after paying a 30% deposit of RM98,662 in the middle of this year, communication became sporadic and eventually “my whatsapp all went unanswered”.

“We want the public to know there is this particular scam going on. They draw up slick websites … full of photos of the renovation process ... [they] employ girls who claim they are graduates in architecture, and they try to convince us they can do the job,” said Prasad.

Another couple pointed out, on top of the money they had already paid the company, they were suffering daily penalties for failing to open their café in a mall on the agreed date because the renovation work has been abandoned. 

He recounted a similar modus operandi by the renovator, and stressed that “it is a real orchestrated scam”. 

“We went to the police. Unfortunately, [we were told], according to the Malaysian law, once the renovation has started, it is considered started, so the case should be taken up by the tribunal,” Ong said.

“The problem is, we can’t locate them – no more contact. [We] don’t know which direction to go. Should we engage a new contractor or wait for the lawsuit to complete? Each month of delaying is another extra cost,” Ong lamented.

He revealed they had identified 60 victims of the company, and there were probably more who had yet to come forward.

“One of the staff who left, she felt very guilty, she called one of the victims and confessed this is a scam. She gave us the numbers of the other victims and told us to work together to expose the scam.

“This man is setting up a new company – they are going to restart the whole thing and start scamming new people,” warned Ong.  

Kok hoped the public would become more aware of such renovation scams.

"I will write a letter to the inspector-general of police and the Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CID) to investigate and take action on this.

"The police need to take this matter seriously. This is really unfair to the victims to just ask them to go to the tribunal," said Kok.

As at writing time, the Facebook post had garnered 125,000 views, 2,900 likes and 370 comments, many of whom mentioned similar scams by renovation companies of different names.