JEDDAH, 18 December 2004 — It has been months since M. K. escaped with SR270 million from 500 people who had invested their money hoping to gain some extra riyals in what came to be known as Mara’a scam. Mara’a is the name of the company trading in livestock that lured investors into putting their money in the buying and selling of sheep imported from abroad.
These investors were attracted by the high profit on their capital, which could reach 45 percent a month. This never happened and the main suspect in the case disappeared with the money, according to Okaz newspaper. A number of accomplices in the scam were arrested but their leader remains at large.
Essam Daftardar, 30, one of the victims, said he kept saving money for ten years to buy a house — the dream of his family. “I saved around SR1 million. When this company announced its scheme, I decided to participate and put all the money that I had saved. What encouraged me to participate is that one of the main investors is a relative of mine. At first, I was receiving 45 percent profit. When the number of investors increased, the profit dropped to 34 percent and went down to 17 percent every 45 days. It continued sliding until the main suspect escaped with all our money.”
Muhammad Bahmadan, another victim, said: “When the company began giving large percentage of profit, I was encouraged to invest. I sold the family house and my car. When I lost everything, I discovered that the leader of the group escaped with my money. What makes me very angry is that one of the participants in this investment is a relative of mine who told me about it. He assured me that they are working legally and that I would be able to buy six houses instead of the one that I sold. Right now, I live in a rented house waiting for our case to be settled.”
