Phuket donor 'got money from dubious investment scheme'

[webfact]

Phuket donor 'got money from dubious investment scheme'
Nattha Thepbamrung


Followers of Zhang Jian brought B30 million in cash to the wat, then tried to recruit people to in the temple to join YSLM.

PHUKET: -- Chinese businessman Zhang Jian, aka Supachai Rujathon, 26, who became famous across Thailand recently when he donated B34 million – B30 million in cold cash – to Phuket’s Wat Jareonsamanakit, is wanted by the authorities in Malaysia.

The Malaysian newspaper, The Sun Daily reported in August that Zhang had opened an unlicensed business in that country, touting himself as the future richest man in the world, and using pictures of local celebrities to support his business.

Malaysia’s Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry secretary-general, Datuk Seri Hasan Malek told The Sun Daily, “The ministry will continue to keep a close watch on the company and will arrest its founder, Zhang Jian, the moment he shows up.”

He added, “Early last month, the ministry found YSLM [Yun Shu Mao], a company owned by the self-proclaimed Chinese millionaire, to be an illegal entity.”

Zhang’s supposed multi-level marketing business was heavily promoted in Malaysia. He advertised that he would invest 100 million Ringgit and many famous stars in Malaysia helped him promote the debut.

The thrust of YSLM’s promotion was mainly about getting rich rapidly and easily. On billboards pictures showed him holding big slabs of money or giving away cars to YSLM’s members.

Piti Hussa, a senior YSLM member in Thailand told The Phuket News from Bangkok on Wednesday (October 1) that he joined the business three months previously after he decided to quit his job as a technical staff in Ramathibodi hospital and he found that the YSLM could really bring him money.

“The fact that he puts his own picture on every product, posters and sticker means he has nothing to hide and he also donates huge amounts of money to temples, saying he will keep giving away money to build other temples.”

People working with Mr Zhang can easily get money or luxury assets, Mr Piti said.

“Once when YSLM started in Thailand, there was a group of Thai members who went to see him in Malaysia and I heard that they got B100,000 each from him. He also gave away gold and cars to other members. I heard that there were three or four Thai people got BMWs from him.”

“If the members just put the company sticker with as a logo on their car, they will get B1,000 easily every month for 10 months.”

He defined the work process as a “money game”. The products of the company are not the main focus; the focus is on shares in the company, which he said is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Each member, when he joins has to buy 367 shares for B5,000 – or more shares.

(The Phuket News could find no record of YSLM being listed on the HKSE.)

“Each member will own at least 367 shares, then they have to find more people to join the business.

“The members will get a bonus of 20 per cent, or B1,000, immediately they recruit a newcomer to invest.

“They will also get money from people further down the chain, who are brought in by the people they brought in.

“I just started working seriously with this company and I am already getting around 3,000 Yuan or around B30,000 a month.”

He denies that the business is a massive Ponzi scheme because, he says, there are products that the company is selling abroad. YSLM, he said, had opened permanent offices in places such as China, Malaysia, Singapore, Laos, Indonesia and India.

“I believe the products they sell, some of which have also been brought to Thailand, are of higher quality but at lower prices than in the market. Though there are few products in Thailand right now, there will be more in the future and the Thailand head office is now being built in Bangkok.”

Mr Zhang’s appearance and his ordination as Phra Sookto, a monk at Wat Jareonsamanakit in Phuket caused considerable disruption when a number of his followers, especially Chinese-speaking people from Malaysia visited him all day long.

Aparat, a temple board member, told The Phuket News, “There were busloads of people coming to the temple, especially Chinese Malaysian. They not only visited the monk but also tried, through an interpreter, to get other people to become YSLM members.

“In the morning when [Zhang Jian] went to collect alms, his followers, wearing shirts with his picture on them, always followed him in a sound truck blaring announcements about his B34 million donation.”

Ms Aparat said she thinks it was inappropriate for his followers to come to the temple mainly to recruit people to YSLM.

She added that she felt there was something suspicious about the YSLM business plan. “The business offers a high profit but there is no product to show and people are not clear what their money will be invested in.

“I think when Mr Zhang donated the money to the wat it was just for promotional purposes. Their business always focuses on money and riches and there are always pictures of Mr Zhang or his members with big stacks of money – just like when he gave the money to the temple,” she said.

With suspicion growing and reports that Mr Ziang is being sought in Malaysia, he has left Wat Jareonsamanakit. Mr Piti said that he is now staying in a temple in Bangkok, though the deputy abbot of the Phuket temple stressed that he had already quit being a monk.

“He had many visitors during the day and the abbot told him that it was not appropriate. I think he may have got upset and decided to leave,” the deputy abbot said.

He explained that there were not many monks in the temple who got close to Mr Zhang as he speaks only Chinese and English and he himself does not know much about the young multi-millionaire.

But, he added, “During the time he was here, he had good discipline but the temple was always fully packed with his followers. He even had some followers staying in the temple to support him and help him for some activities such as collecting donations.”

He insisted that neither the abbot no any of the monks in the temple knows the exact source of the B34 million and they do not know much about Mr Zhang.

However, he said that the temple had no intention of relinquishing the money; it had been given to the temple and should therefore belong to the temple.

B4 million has already been spent on buying the land where a chedi will be built, funded by the remaining B30 million.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-donor-got-money-from-dubious-investment-scheme-48955.php


-- Phuket News 2014-10-02

[daoyai]

Funny the worship of money sets people up for belief in this pyramid ponzi, true if you get in early and there are suckers to fleece you can get rich but ultimatly it must fail, been done a thousand times before and is not legal in the more developed world, Malaysia eventually figured out the scam, wonder how long until LOS does.

[canuckamuck]

It's all OK, look at how much merit he is making.

[apetley]

"......the temple had no intention of relinquishing the money".

No surprise there. Can anyone tell me the Thai word for integrity?

[Gunna]

"......the temple had no intention of relinquishing the money".

No surprise there. Can anyone tell me the Thai word for integrity?

Apparently it is OK for temples to use money that has been fleeced from investors in a Pyramid scam - maybe it was because it was from those stupid Malaysians and non Buddhists as well.

But wait, there is an equally long queue of Thai succors wanting to join the ponzi scheme in Thailand.

[gerry1011]

I don't like these pyramid schemes at all.

However, the disturbing fact is that quite a number of people entering these types of schemes (such as Unicity in Thailand) really get rich. Only the ones at the top of the pyramid, of course. Not the majority of people who join later on.

I think that this is what makes these pyramid schemes success. Some people do get rich.

But to get rich they not only have to be among the first to join the scheme. They also need to completely lack ethics and be willing to take advantage of those who are below them.

A donation to a temple is a great marketing stunt. But I feel sorry for those who will join the scheme and lose money (and friends most probably).

[12DrinkMore]

34,000,000 Baht.

And the best possible way of spending it is to pile up stones and construct yet another chedi?

They could call it the "Nung lan rian chedi" - The "One Million Dollar Chedi".

How about improving a school?

Or a local hospital?

Or an orphanage?

And maybe you would like to submit accounts for the temple and show where all the other millions and millions have actually ended up?

[klauskunkel]

Malaysia’s Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry secretary-general, Datuk Seri Hasan Malek told The Sun Daily, “The ministry will continue to keep a close watch on the company and will arrest its founder, Zhang Jian, the moment he shows up.”

"But we will be really secretive and sly about this strategy, so he doesn't suspect anything before we collectively pounce on him", Hasan Malek added, "because we are not stupid!"

[ChrisY1]

"......the temple had no intention of relinquishing the money".

No surprise there. Can anyone tell me the Thai word for integrity?

KHWAAM

[JacChang]

I HATE the pyramid scheme.

Friends have turned to annoying sales. I completely cut them off from my circle. They talk about it all day, they eat it, they sleep talk saying it. They send you pictures of their "successful conference" with so many followers. Like I give a ****