Forest City in Malaysia: A Ghost Town attracts Cyberscammers



An artifical island full of residential towers, that could house some 700'000 residents - and effectively houses around 20'000 people today: Forest City in Malaysia, a 100bn US-Dollar mega-project, has now been searched by Malaysia's police. They arrested 335 people ‌and seized assets worth about one million ringgit (245'000 US-Dollar), including 313 computers, 1,557 mobile phones, 17 laptops and 10 modems according to BBC. Residential towers and bungalows were used for investment and love scams targeting victims abroad, mainly in China and Indonesia according to the police. Arrested were more than 300 Chinese nationals as well as some Indonesians, Malaysians and Myanmar nationals. The police are still investigating, who were the masterminds behind this operation.

And who built this city? It was a joint venture by Country Garden, a large property developer in China and Danga 88, a company controlled by Malaysian Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar. They promoted it with a golf course and a water park as an eco-friendly town for rich Chinese clients. The project was unveiled in 2016. But then came the Covid pandemic, Chinas property crisis and restrictions of capital export from China. In December 2023 BBC reported, that only 15 percent of the total project has been built - on reclaimed islands far from the nearest major city Johor Bahru. By this way Forest City was named a ghost town by many media, what did not help to attract more residents.

Since the Malaysian government launched the Forest City Special Financial Zone (SFZ) in 2024, tying the development to the broader Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JSSEZ), there have been some new developments. It seems that from 26,000 completed units around 80 percent are sold. According to the finance ministry, 70 per cent of the properties sold have been bought by Chinese investors. As CNA has documented the flats are rented for low prices, attracting people, who could not afford apartments in Johor Bahru. Forest City was declared a duty-free zone last year to support tourism and bolster the local economy. And Malaysia has offered a zero per cent tax rate for family offices located in Forest City. The Malaysian government tries to stimulate financial services such as fintech. The report by CNA closes with some people saying, that Forest City can no longer be called a ghost town.






Location: Johor, Malaysia

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chen Zhi: Cyberscam Tycoon escorted to China by Beijings most prominent SWAT Team - far away from U.S. Courts

Image
This screenshot captured from a video released by the Criminal Investigative Department of Chinas Ministry of Public Security on Jan 8, 2026, shows Chen Zhi, who is brought to China by Beijings Blue Sword Commando Unit (蓝剑突击队), one of the most well-equipped and well-trained Special Police Units. Alleged scam tycoon Chen Zhi (陳志) , founding chairman of Cambodian conglomerate Prince Holding Group, has been arrested and extradited to China, Cambodias Interior Ministry has declared according to channelnewsasia . Chen Zhi then was presented in a video released by the Criminal Investigative Department of Chinas Ministry of Public Security on Jan 8, 2026 by Chinas state media: Handcuffed, hood over head, hood taken away - and escorted by the Blue Sword Commando Unit (蓝剑突击队), the SWAT team of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau. They may have taken him to Dongcheng District Detention Center in Beijing. These pictures were shown just days after U.S. special forces had abducte...
Read more

End of Cyberscam at Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone in Laos?
And what happened to Zhao Wei?

Image
Picture by 柳千的账号 A new city has been erected from farmers ground in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at the Mekong river in Bokeo province in Laos. Under the guidance of Chinese Businessman Zhao Wei it has become not only a tourism and property development but especially a hub for cyberscam and money laundering among other criminal activities. How does the government of Laos react? "Asia’s Most Conspicuous Criminal Enclave" and "Transnational crime along the Mekong" : Headlines of stories published by International Crisis Group published in 2023 and 2024. These described Kings Romans casino as an "open display of money laundering". These named Zhao Wei (Chinese: 趙偉) a crime boss, the Chinese businessman holding a 99-year licence for operations in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (SEZ, Chinese: 金三角经济特区) , created by the government of Laos for economic development in the northern province of Bokeo. These articles remembered, that...
Read more

Chen Zhi - Inside one of Asia's allegedly most sophisticated Transnational Criminal Organization. What happened

Image
Robert Nogacki describes it on Linkedin: "The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York has unsealed an indictment against Chen Zhi (陳志), charging the Chinese-Cambodian businessman with orchestrating one of Asia's most sophisticated transnational criminal organizations. The indictment reveals an operation that allegedly defrauded victims globally of billions of dollars through forced-labor cryptocurrency schemes while laundering proceeds through an elaborate network of ostensibly legitimate business enterprises. Chen founded and chaired Prince Holding Group, a Cambodian conglomerate operating over one hundred business entities across more than thirty countries. While publicly presenting itself as engaged in real estate development, banking, and hospitality, federal prosecutors allege that Prince Group's core business consisted of operating forced-labor compounds throughout Cambodia executing industrial-scale "pig-butchering"...
Read more