"Beware of land banking"

Readers of this blog will know that I am "not exactly" a fan of land banking schemes (to put it mildly).

For instance in this posting I wrote about this matter.

I was pleasantly surprised by the letter "Beware of land banking" posted on MalaysiaKini's website. I agree with what is written, and especially:


"In conclusion, if such overseas land is so good, then why come all the way here to hard sell smaller divided plots when it should be easily sold in their home country?"


The reason for this paradox is (and I am sure the writer of the letter knows this) the huge amount of sales commissions that are drawn. I doubt if these commissions are transparently disclosed to the public.

In my previous posting I did mention one court case regarding Walton International Group (Singapore). The judgement is a must read for anyone interested in land banking.

However, the above letter as published at MalaysiaKini's website mentions another court case, also by Walton against another former employee. More interesting inside details, the most outrageous one is the following:


".... Mr Britton’s evidence on the sacking of Ms Loh was also most unsatisfactory. For instance, when he was asked why Ms Loh, whose contribution to the company’s profits was as good, if not better, than Mr Iseli’s contribution to Walton Malaysia’s profits, had not been offered a generous financial package to resign whereas Mr Iseli had been offered such a package, he gave the astonishing reply that she had not been offered a severance package because unlike Mr Iseli, she had not been spreading rumours or perpetuating lies. Apparently, he seemed to believe that those who spread rumours and perpetuated lies should be rewarded with a generous severance package whereas Ms Loh, who did not act in such dastardly ways and had spearheaded the increase in the sale of Walton products in Singapore, should be summarily dismissed without any compensation for the flimsiest of reasons."