This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on December 29, 2025 - January 4, 2026

A police blitz in March 2025 targeted Mobility Beyond Imagination (MBI), reviving the spectre of one of Southeast Asia’s most notorious alleged multi-billion-dollar Ponzi schemes. The scheme preyed largely on Chinese nationals while entangling Malaysia’s corporate elite and prime real estate in a web of questionable wealth.

The operation, codenamed Ops Northern Star, was spearheaded by a special task force from Bukit Aman’s Anti-Money Laundering Division. More than two dozen individuals were detained, including prominent Penang-based property magnates bearing titles such as Tan Sri, Datuk Seri and Datuk, many of whom controlled companies listed on Bursa Malaysia.

Investigators believe these figures acted as proxies, allegedly laundering vast sums by channelling funds into businesses such as plantations before declaring them as legitimate corporate profits.

Among those named so far are Ivory Properties Group Bhd founder and group CEO Datuk Low Eng Hock and Magma Group Bhd executive chairman Datuk Seri Lee Hock Seng. Low resigned from all positions at Ivory Properties in August 2025, citing personal reasons, though he remained a substantial shareholder. According to Bursa filings, as at July 25, 2025, Low held a 17.25% direct stake and a 5.76% indirect stake in Ivory Properties.

By late August 2025, Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Mohd Khalid Ismail revealed that the total value of seized and frozen assets had reached a staggering RM6.6 billion. The haul included several businesses, 299 bank accounts, 477 properties, shares in listed companies, luxury vehicles and a yacht — underscoring the alleged scheme’s staggering scale.

Why was the investigation reopened after a seven-year lull? Sources pointed to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Malaysia in April as a key catalyst, given that as many as two million Chinese nationals were believed to be victims of the scheme.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail later confirmed that Xi and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim discussed the MBI crackdown during a closed-door meeting when Xi visited Malaysia from April 15 to 17. Malaysian police, Saifuddin said, are now acting on intelligence shared by their Chinese counterparts concerning the alleged scheme’s core mechanisms.

Another trigger was the sheer escalation in scale. Initial raids in 2017 uncovered just RM117 million. Within two years, Chinese investors alleged that losses had ballooned into the billions — an amount that somehow escaped Bank Negara Malaysia’s detection. Critics argue its oversight failed to prevent the scheme’s escalation.

The March raids took a dramatic turn when police arrested two corporate lawyers and seized documents linked to MBI-related property and share transactions. One lawyer held an advisory role in a leading Penang commercial organisation; the other sat on boards of companies linked to MBI.

The arrests sent shockwaves through corporate Malaysia. Among the documents seized were transaction records relating to the 102.6-acre Penang World City (PWC) project, also known as Bayan Mutiara, described by a source as “one of the most prized assets in Penang, with development potential approaching RM10 billion”.

The investigation culminated in a stunning revelation: how, in 2018, a company with shareholders linked to MBI emerged as the major shareholder of Hemat Tuah Sdn Bhd, which owns Mutiara Metropolis Sdn Bhd, the developer of the PWC project.

Originally tendered by the Penang Development Corp in 2011 for RM1.07 billion, the 35-acre reclaimed seafront land near the Penang Bridge was awarded to Ivory Properties, which later partnered with Tropicana Corp Bhd Bhd (KL:TROP). Their joint venture, Tropicana Ivory Sdn Bhd, was sold to Hemat Tuah in 2018 and subsequently renamed Mutiara Metropolis Sdn Bhd (MMSB).

It is worth noting that Ivory Properties had also developed Penang Times Square, where MBI was the anchor tenant and a major buyer of retail and residential units. Today, the mall stands largely vacant, its overall development stalled.

Police are now probing the source of funds used in Hemat Tuah’s 2018 acquisition. The lawyers questioned in March had handled the transactions between Ivory Properties, Tropicana and Hemat Tuah.

In an unusual enforcement action, the police’s Anti-Money Laundering (AMLA) unit appointed three officers, namely Mohd Faizal Mohd Atan, Hamizan Ismail and Tan Kah Kok to Hemat Tuah’s board in May 2025. The move effectively curtailed the powers of the existing directors, freezing any decision-making regarding the RM10 billion asset. It was a clear signal that the state had seized control to preserve the property.

Data from the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) show the appointments expanded Hemat Tuah’s board to six directors, alongside Datuk Ooi Chin Loo, Tengku Soraya Muhd Yusof Shah and Tang Tiam Hok.

Sources describe the intervention as a strategic effort to safeguard assets potentially amassed with proceeds from the beleaguered pyramid scheme, stemming from the connection between Hemat Tuah’s major shareholders and MBI founder Tedy Teow Wooi Huat, the prime figure behind the disgraced scheme. Tedy’s brother, Teow Wooi Pin, holds a 45% stake in Hemat Tuah, while his brother-in-law Tan Kim Hee owns 15%. Other shareholders Lim Ah Chay owns a 20% stake, Lio Chee Yeong (10%) and Koh Tech Ong (10%) despite the company’s modest paid-up capital of RM13.8 million.

One source explains: “Placing three police officers from the AMLA unit on Hemat Tuah’s board immediately curtails the existing board’s power to make decisions or transact concerning company assets. This situation will likely persist until police complete their investigation into links between Hemat Tuah’s owners and MBI. Investigators are focusing on the source of funds for Hemat Tuah’s shareholders during their 2018 takeover of the project.”

This development hardly surprises, given that Hemat Tuah, via MMSB, holds development rights for 102.56 acres of prime freehold land in Bayan Mutiara.

The crackdown has triggered a reckoning across corporate Malaysia. Ivory Properties, already under Practice Note 17 (PN17) status since 2022, succumbed to regulatory pressure after Bursa Malaysia rejected its appeal for more time to regularise its affairs. The Penang-based property developer was delisted from Bursa’s Main Market in October 2025.

Magma Group, which manages Impiana-branded hotels and the Chagee tea chain, confirmed that its executive chairman Lee was assisting authorities, but stressed the investigation had no bearing on its hotel and beverage businesses.

By late 2025, the “follow-the-money” probe had reached the heart of the financial system. Bank Negara, working with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, issued a directive to more than 100 capital market intermediaries — banks, stockbroking houses and fund managers, instructing them to scrutinise over 100 companies and individuals for suspicious fund flows.

“The task force is essentially following the money, especially whether any of it entered the capital markets,” an industry source tells The Edge.

Beyond balance sheets and boardrooms, the MBI scam left a lasting mark on Malaysia’s urban landscape. Penang Times Square, now a hollow shell, stands as its most prominent monument. A trail of stalled and abandoned projects stretching from Kedah to Penang constitutes the scheme’s enduring physical “hangover”.

The human toll continues to fuel demands for justice. In October 2019, hundreds of aggrieved Chinese investors staged peaceful protests in Malaysia. In November 2021, about 400 Chinese nationals filed a class-action suit in the Kuala Lumpur High Court, seeking RM170 million in investment losses. To date, more than 1,500 Chinese victims have lodged police reports in Malaysia, claiming losses of roughly RM480 million.

Still, the full extent of Tedy’s amassed fortune remains unknown. That missing wealth lies at the heart of a sprawling, cross-border investigation — one that has evolved from a local financial scandal into a defining test of Malaysia’s resolve to finally put the spectre of MBI to rest. 

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