PETALING JAYA: Three more gold investment companies in Kuala Lumpur have been raided for suspected illegal deposit-taking.

The premises of Pageantry Gold Bhd, Caesar Gold Sdn Bhd and Worldwide Far East Bhd were raided yesterday by Bank Negara, police and the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism.

Among others, they are being investigated for money-laundering, tax evasion and avoidance, false description, including misrepresentation, and appointment of unlicensed agents, Bank Negara said in a statement.

They are the latest gold investment companies to be raided after Geneva Malaysia Sdn Bhd, which is being investigated for similar offences as The Star front-paged on Tuesday.

At press time, officials were still at the Pageantry office in Setapak and the Worldwide Far East premises in Bandar Baru, Sri Petaling.

No one could be seen around the Caesar Gold base in Jalan Klang Lama.

In a separate statement, Bank Negara said that relevant assets and documents had been seized from several premises of Genneva and the residences of the directors of the company.

The investigations followed police reports lodged by “various quarters” against the company, the statement added.

Bank Negara had acted against Genneva in 2009, but it was back in operation after changing its name.

The central bank advised the public to check with the relevant authorities when dealing with companies or individuals offering seemingly attractive business opportunities or financial services.

“The public are reminded to be cautious in investing in unregulated schemes,” it reiterated.

Bank Negara stressed that enforcement agencies would act against illegal financial schemes “to protect the interest of the investors and the public at large”.

Of the 87 companies on Bank Negara’s consumer alert list, 18 are involved gold investment activities.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/10/6/nation/12135512&sec=nation