'Decent' woman a worldwide fugitive
2010/03/04
KUALA LUMPUR: A woman stands alone at the top of the commercial crimespolice wanted list, after allegedly conning several celebrities andprominent people of a staggering total of RM432 million. Her victims include veteran rock singers Amy (Search), Hattanand Awie, as well as Misha Omar and the wife of a Tan Sri, who lostRM26 million. Rohaniza Aladib, 31, is believed to have absconded toAustralia with her ill-gotten gains.
Singers Hattan and Awie had previously confessed to being conned byRohaniza, whom they said appeared "decent". Police said Rohanizapersuaded her victims to part with their money by promising themreturns of as much as 50 per cent on their investment within 30 days.As with such scams, her victims would receive the promised returns ontheir initial investment, thus encouraging them to "invest" more,perhaps with money borrowed from friends and relatives. Hattan said thegood returns on the first RM50,000 he gave Rohaniza led him to keepadding money to his investment until it reached RM1.4 million. Awiesaid he lost RM50,000 to the woman, who had promised him a return of 30per cent within 45 days. The scheme promised huge returns oninvestments in an international cigarette company. Rohaniza allegedlyused Erza Corporation as a front for her scheme.
Her last known address was 12, Jalan RTU 33/17A, Damansara Indah Resort Homes, Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya. It is learnt that the suspect had a record of cheating since she was a youth, and had been sentenced to jail for it.
On release, however, she resumed her activities with an even moreelaborate scheme. Rohaniza, from Perak, is now listed on the InterpolRed Notice wanted list, making her a worldwide fugitive. The biggestsingle reported loss in a commercial crime case last year was the PortKlang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal, contributing RM410 million to the totalRM1.3 billion loss. Since news of the PKFZ fiasco broke last year, LawJenn Dong, a former Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd project manager, StephenAbok, chief operating officer of KDSB, architect Bernard Tan Seng Sweeand former Port Klang Authority general manager Datin Paduka Phang OiChoo have been charged with various offences connected with the case.Discrepancies over PKFZ's development were uncovered by a special taskforce of lawyers, accountants, quantity surveyors and building costconsultants from professional firms, set up by the Transport Ministryfollowing an audit report by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The 4.5ha PKFZ wasinitially conceived as a RM1.8 billion project.
The audit report released on May 28 revealed that the project's costmay spiral up to RM12.45 billion, more than six times the originalestimate.
