PETALING JAYA: An agarwood company has distanced itself from an alleged scam involving investments in agarwood plantations in Thailand, saying it has been wrongly implicated.
This comes after the media highlighted an alleged scam involving investments in agarwood plantations in Thailand.
Agarwood Originals Malaysia Bhd said in a statement that it was not involved in the agarwood project in Thailand.
It said the project was launched by a Singapore company and the sale and purchase agreements were entered into between the company and the individuals directly.
“Agarwood Originals Malaysia Bhd is not involved in the agarwood project in Thailand at all,” it said, adding that any dispute was strictly a contractual matter between the individuals involved and the Singapore company.
Agarwood Originals Malaysia Bhd added that it had been wrongly implicated as a party in a number of actions filed in court.
“We are vigorously defending these frivolous claims to clear our name, which has resulted in some of the actions being struck out or stayed, pursuant to the mandatory arbitration clause in the sale and purchase agreements entered into between them and (the Singapore company),” it said.
“We will also not hesitate to take all necessary action in law to safeguard our interests and reputation as a respected market leader in plantation management.”
On June 5, a group of more than 200 victims of the alleged scam held a meeting in Kuala Lumpur and urged the police to speed up their investigation.
In March, it was reported that the victims had suffered losses of more than RM22.6 million over several years after having invested in an agarwood plantation project involving a “local company”.
A group of 60 to 70 victims had lodged a police report against the company in 2020 but the case was later classified by the police as no further action (NFA).
However, in March, a court order was obtained for the police to reopen the case for investigation under Section 420 of the Penal Code.-FMT