KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 30 — Seven investors allegedly duped into buying columbarium niches in the “1 Malaysia Spiritual Tourism” mega-project are now seeking for police to investigate the project that officials say they know nothing about, The Star reported today.
A buyer, Cheong Yin Kuan, claimed to have paid RM17,500 for a 10-niche “Emperor Package” and a certificate after attending a talk on the project, which will purportedly be developed by Enchant Acres Sdn Bhd.
After the purchase, the 66-year-old said she had went to check the status of the land where the planned multi-billion project would be built.
But the 250-acre plot of land is still owned by the Pahang state government and has not been awarded to anyone else, The Star reported.
Sim Chon Siang, the Teruntum state assemblyman, reportedly said that a check with the Pahang state secretary’s office revealed that the project did not exist.
He also said that the director of a construction firm, which was identified as the main contractor for the project in advertisements, had allegedly denied links to the project.
“I met with the director of the construction firm. He was surprised to find out his company’s name had been used in such a manner. He said his company had nothing to do with the project at all,” Sim said.
He also added that buyers were asked to issue cheques as payment to the Enchant Acres’ director instead of the company.
But project developer Enchant Acres’ group managing director, Datuk Dr Allan Ho, fended off such accusations.
He insisted the land was offered to his company for a joint-venture with a construction company, but they have yet to pay the premium for the land. He maintained that this arrangement was not “illegal”.
“We have been granted an extension. The fact that it is not paid yet does not make it illegal.
“And of course the state government does not know about this project since it is in the conceptual stage and not even launched yet,” he was quoted as saying by The Star.
Ho also claimed that clients issue cheques to him instead of Enchant Acres because he was acting as a reseller of the niches.
“Now we are offering a discounted price to our columbarium niches which is limited to 200,000 units only. As to why the cheques are issued to me (and not to the company), it’s because I am a reseller,” he said, explaining that there were multiple resellers nationwide who pre-booked the niches from the company before selling it to the public.
In a video presentation on the website for project developer Enchant Acres Sdn Bhd, Ho said that the 250-acre retreat will feature the largest columbarium in the world with five million niches to store cinerary urns.
Priced at US$4,000 (RM12,000) each, the niches would raise a theoretical total of RM60 billion that Ho said would be “more than enough for us to fund the whole building of this environment” that he said would start this year. Ho is listed as a marketing and hospitality expert on the company website.
A “marketing plan” available on the same website depicts what appears to be a multi-tiered business model that promises early investors who make a booking of US$700 (RM2,310) per niche a 360 per cent return on their investment if they resell the reservation to the company.
Investors who allow their booking fees to mature further in the company’s possession until 2016 were promised a columbarium niche that the company said would appreciate to US$6,000 in four years.
The “marketing plan” also illustrates three tiers of memberships, from the entry-level “Kapitan” for US$2,100 to the top “Emperor” level that retails for US$7,000. Benefits and promised “compensation” increase based on the tiers, with the investors signing up for the uppermost tier standing to ostensibly earn up to US$20,000 a week, according to the plan’s claims.
Investors also stood to gain commissions based on bookings for niches that they manage to sell either personally or via a sales group that would then make them eligible to earn bonuses from an “Orchid World Pool” that could contain up to RM196 million.
Tourism Malaysia and Pahang state tourism officials contacted by The Malay Mail Online last week said they were in the dark over the project.
Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, who is tourism minister, also said that he was unaware of the mammoth development.
According to Enchant Acres’ website, the 1 Malaysia Spiritual Tourism project will promote Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Confucianism, Christianity, as well as the Sai Baba and I-Kuan Tao movements.
Among the planned constructions are a 30-storey pyramid, which is supposed to be the largest pyramid in the world, as well as a giant Kuan Yin statue on top of the pyramid. Kuan Yin is the Goddess of Mercy that is typically worshipped by Buddhists.
The project - which Enchant Acres says will start at the end of the year - will also include the construction of a recreational and commercial area that comprises hotels and resorts, food and beverage outlets, recreational facilities like clubs and entertainment centres, parks, gardens, business centres, and even a university-college, an international school, and other learning centres.
Last week, Muslim group Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia criticised the project and accused its developers of threatening the position of Islam in the country.
