After the criminal conviction of Sunshine Empire's chief, members are now worried about the state of their investments. A lawyer interviewed by my paper says outlook may be grim for investors with money stuck in the company.

The man behind local MLM group Sunshine Empire, James Phang, 49, was charged with running a fraudulent business and criminal breach of trust, with charges amounting to more than $947,000.

After his conviction, the spotlight has turned to the investments that were pumped in by more than 20,000 Sunshine Empire members.

They are worried that they may never see their money again.

According to reports, Sunshine Empire, which started in July 2006, had pulled in up to $189 million from investors. After the company came under public scrutiny, the CAD (Commercial Affairs Department) detained $20 million to $30 million of its assets to protect the interests of investors.

All Sunshine's assets were subsequently frozen following the charges.

However, experienced lawyer Mr Amolat Singh, which my paper spoke to, is pessimistic about the outcome of the distribution of assets. He says, even if investors manage to get some of their money back, the amount would not be much.

Mr Singh says investors are considered unsecured creditors if their investments promises fixed returns. Priority will go to compensating secured creditors, such as banks, before these investors will be compensated. However, at this point, it seems evident that the amount will not be sufficient to for investors to recoup their losses.

Since Oct 2007, when reports first surfaced of CAD's probe into Sunshine's affairs, and its placement on an investor alert list by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) received 99 reported complaints against the company by members of the public, most of whom were concerned about how they can recover their investments.

In the week following reports that appeared in my paper on May 4, CASE received more complaints, totalling 52 cases as of today.

According to the watchdog's executive director, Mr Seah Seng Choon, CASE is helping affected investors prepare the necessary claims documents and submitting their requests to the police.

He says investors have been warned that they may not get back the full amount invested. He says: "We will have to wait for the end of the case before full details of the compensation scheme will be revealed."

When contacted, a spokesperson for the Singapore Police declined comment as the trial is still ongoing.

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