$500k gone: 'Forex fund manager' goes MIA, at least 10 people affected

Wanting to help her father grow his pension funds, a woman decided to heed the advice of a forex fund manager, who claimed his investment fund provides a daily return of one per cent.

But several months later, the fund manager started evading her queries, leaving the woman with no way to withdraw the rest of her investment funds. 

At least 10 people — including the woman — had engaged the same forex fund manager, with the collective sum invested believed to be at least $500,000, reported Shin Min Daily News.

The woman surnamed Xu, 40, said a friend had introduced her to the man, Li Shipeng (transliteration), who claimed to be a forex fund manager.

He persuaded them to invest with him and Xu put in $56,758 from March to November 2022. According to Xu, she had already been paid $18,750 in interest.

But after Li became uncontactable, she said she is unable to recover her capital.

"I told him this sum of money [I'm investing] is for my dad's retirement, and that he has heart disease and high medical expenses. He used this fact and kept saying I need to invest to get more returns and pay for my dad's medical bills," she said.

In December 2022, however, Li stopped paying out profits and gave various excuses when Xu probed further.

"He kept saying that he was lacking in investments and short of money and had let us down. Then he said there were new investment opportunities and asked us to continue trusting him," she recounted.

The woman later learnt that the man had previously convinced others to invest with him using a similar modus operandi.

Xu told Shin Min that she is in a group chat with nine other victims, some of whom claimed that there are others who had invested with Li over the past five to six years, so the estimated amount of money involved is likely to be even more than $500,000.

She added she last saw Li in December 2023. He had returned $1,000 to her and promised to continue returning her money. 

She filed a police report after Li became uncontactable.

Another victim, surnamed Lin, did the same after she was unable to recover her remaining investment amount of more than $30,000.

The 70-year-old retiree had invested $70,000 with Li. She got back some interest but said she could not recover more than $30,000.

She told Shin Min that Li presented himself as a kind and filial person, and would send pictures showing his charitable donations as well as overseas trips with his mother.

According to her, many others who invested their pension funds with him were senior citizens who were taken in by his persona.

The police confirmed to Shin Min that reports were lodged and investigations are ongoing.

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lim.kewei@asiaone.com