QI kingpins who ran the Goldquest scheme in Sri Lanka arrested in
Indonesia
Gold quest
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GoldQuest International Ltd was founded in 1998 as a direct selling
company retailing numismatic gold coins in the Philippines by four
partners - Vijay Eswaran (wanted by interpol for fraud and conspiracy
[1]), Joseph Bismark, Kurt Georg Rocco Rinck and Joe Fabregas[citation
needed].
[edit] Fraud and Controversy
Goldquest's mother company Quest International (QI) groups Chief
Executive Vijayeswaran Vijayaratnam, director Joseph Bismark, and two
other senior executives, Donna Marie Imson and Tagumpay Kintanar were
arrested by Indonesian police following a red notice from Interpol for
fraud and conspiracy[2] [3].
Goldquest officials have been arrested in countries such as Nepal
where its scheme had been banned. Sri Lanka's Central Bank developed
an anti-pyramiding law after the Goldquest scheme swept through the
country and collapsed several years ago. [4].
Pyramid Scheme Alert's President, Robert FitzPatrick was critical of
the goldquest scheme [5] [6].
Sri lanka's president endorsed a crackdown on pyramid schemes like
goldquest[7]
May 7, 2007 (LBO) – Indonesian police have arrested top operatives of
the GoldQuest scheme, while its founder is also wanted by Interpol for
his activities in the Philippines, reports said.
Quest International (QI) group Chief Executive Vijayeswaran
Vijayaratnam, director Joseph Bismark, and two other senior
executives, Donna Marie Imson and Tagumpay Kintanar were arrested
Thursday The Jakarta Post reported.
Police arrested the four people, believed to be the operators of
GoldQuest, a network marketing scheme that sells gold coins, following
a red notice from Interpol.
Jakarta police chief Adang Firman told reporters Friday the suspects,
Malaysian and Philippine citizens, were also accused of mis-using the
image of former president Abdurrahman Wahid, better known as Gus Dur.
Wahid's lawyer, Ikhsan Abdullah, has said the Goldquest had used
pictures of both Gus Dur and late Nahdlatul Ulama founder Hasyim
Asy'ari in its promotional material without Gus Dur's consent to sell
gold coins.
"We have arrested four of them, all expatriates, after Interpol
contacted us," Jakarta Police Chief Adang Firman told the Jakarta Post
newspaper.
Sri Lanka's Central Bank developed an anti-pyramiding law after the
Goldquest scheme swept through the country and collapsed several years
ago.
Several QI activists were arrested by Sri Lankan police, but the
Central Bank last year dissolved its special investigation unit amidst
much controversy.
QI has also invested in Sri Lanka even in the banking sector, though
investee banks such as the National Development Bank have been
resisting registration of their shares.
Senior employees of Commercial Bank of Ceylon also raised objections
to a proposed merger between their bank and NDB on the basis that QI
group held shares in that bank, reports in Colombo said last month.
Indonesian police told reporters that the four Goldquest top-rungers
were also being sought by police in their home countries adding that
48 Indonesians had filed reports about the company.
The four had been arrested at the Jakarta Convention Center in
Senayan, South Jakarta, at a conference.
Interpol in its 'Red' fugitive list (link) said Vijayeswaran was
wanted for fraud and conspiracy on a warrant issued in Quezon City in
the Philippines.
Meanwhile the New Straits Times (NST) newspaper said Goldquest's
Malaysia manager Tony Teoh Boon Sir, had been charged with operating a
direct selling (network marketing) company without a valid license in
2000.
NST said Vijayeswaran Vijayaratnam, who used the Malaysian honorary
title of 'Datuk' is wanted in connection with a 90 million US dollar
fraud case in the Philippines.
Indonesian police are co-ordinating with their Filipino counterparts
to extradite him to Quezon City where a warrant of arrest has been
issued against him for a nine-year-old case, the newspaper said.
NST said Vijayeswaran'
and a Quest International (QI) group official issued a statement
saying the Philippines case was awaiting a determination in the Court
of Appeal.
NST said the official also claimed that the 'issues relating to the
matters reported, including in respect of Indonesia and one of QI's
businesses, had been overstated and inaccurate.'
Previously Goldquest officials have been arrested in countries such as
Nepal where its scheme had been banned, and company statements had
soon followed, protesting their innocence.
In Sri Lanka Goldquest has issued statements repeatedly denying they
were running a pyramid scheme.
http://www.lankabus
http://www.interpol
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