This is the definition of fool’s gold. According to court documents cited in the Straits Times, a company called SureWin4U sold half-million-dollar packages that promised to turn buyers into winners with the help of the company’s “expert gamblers.”
Though investors saw some initial returns, the SureWin website was taken down in September 2014 and company CEO Peter Ong, a Malaysian national who calls himself “the god of baccarat,” then dropped out of sigh.
Plaintiff Lee Hwee Yeow, a diamond merchant, brought suit in Singapore’s High Court against Wan Hoe Keet and Sally Ho, alleged SureWin promoters who sold him the packages. In court documents, Lee said he lost $1.6 million. He claimed that 150 other people in Singapore have lost a total of $50 million.
CalvinAyre.com reports that investors also attended “extravagant dinners” where the promoters spun rags-to-riches tales of their investments and said investors’ money was “guaranteed” and “safe.”
Wan and Ho claim that they, too, were Ong’s victims. The Times reported that Lee and the defendants settled the case and entered into a confidentiality agreement to bring the trial to an end.
Lee says he was lured into the deal after seeing a demonstration at Marina Bay Sands where other investors quickly realized gains of $300 on $3,000 stakes—money they handed over to a team of professional gamblers. SureWin4U claimed to have a 99.8 percent record of winning at the casinos. The “platinum” packages cost up to SGD500,000 each.
