Steven Chen
The Johor Bahru MCA public complaints bureau has received five complaints against beauty centres in town offering attractive discounts on beauty care packages which include facial treatment, spa usage and slimming services.
The Johor Bahru MCA Youth Chief, Kua Song Tuck, says that these beauty centres reap profits running into the millions. He was speaking to reporters in a press conference at the southern region Chinese Press Club here, yesterday.
The bureau discovered that three companies are owned by two men aged 35, and these have a combined total of 14 branches located throughout Johor. A search done at the Malaysia Companies Commission showed that the companies were registered 12 years ago.
He added that each beauty centre branch has between 200 to 300 members that have bought beauty care packages costing between RM1,000 to RM5,000, which adds up to a whopping RM10 million.
Kua said that they suspect the beauty centres are a front for an illegal investment scheme because they found out that the operators have since closed all branches since last Saturday.
So far five women have stepped forward to relate their plight and are demanding for their money back.
A construction company director, Lee Hwa Heong, 38 said that she lost RM16,000 in buying four beauty care packages from one of the beauty centres here. She has been a client of the beauty centre since August, 2009.
She realised she had been cheated when she found out that the beauty centre had shut and immediate lodged a police report at the Nusajaya Police station, last Monday.
Kua believes that more than 2,800 clients, mostly women, may have been cheated by these companies.
A complaint will be lodged with the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry and in cases where the claim is less than RM5,000, the complaint will also be forwarded to the Consumer Claims Tribunal.
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