Billionaire makes police report over schemes in his name

A screengrab from a get-rich-quick website (left) claiming to be linked to businessman Peter Lim. One of the sites (right) masqueraded as a page on The Straits Times website. In a statement to The Straits Times, Mr Lim said he was concerned that the
A screengrab from a get-rich-quick website (above) claiming to be linked to businessman Peter Lim. One of the sites masqueraded as a page on The Straits Times website. In a statement to The Straits Times, Mr Lim said he was concerned that the public not fall prey to such schemes bearing his name.
A screengrab from a get-rich-quick website (left) claiming to be linked to businessman Peter Lim. One of the sites (right) masqueraded as a page on The Straits Times website. In a statement to The Straits Times, Mr Lim said he was concerned that the
A screengrab from a get-rich-quick website claiming to be linked to businessman Peter Lim. One of the sites (above) masqueraded as a page on The Straits Times website. In a statement to The Straits Times, Mr Lim said he was concerned that the public not fall prey to such schemes bearing his name.

Businessman Peter Lim has filed a police report over articles circulating online linking him with get-rich-quick scams.

A statement by his firm Kestrel Capital yesterday said Mr Lim "categorically denies" any link to the claims made in the reports.

The police report was made after links to webpages with headlines reading "Peter Lim shares huge opportunity for Singaporeans" began circulating on social media.

Another page promised visitors an average income of $350 a day by working from home, with just a "computer, smartphone or tablet with Internet access".

One of the sites masqueraded as a page on The Straits Times website. Singapore Press Holdings, its parent company, is working to have it removed.

Mr Lim "is concerned and alarmed that his name is and continues to be used by parties with possible ill intentions to mislead unsuspecting members of the public", said a Kestrel Capital spokesman.

She added: "Netizens should also refrain from circulating and reposting these false claims."

In a statement to The Straits Times, Mr Lim, 63, said he was concerned that the public not fall prey to get-rich-quick schemes bearing his name.

"Monies don't drop from the sky," he said.

Coming from humble beginnings as a fishmonger's son, the billionaire investor has an estimated net worth of $2.4 billion and calls the entire 11-storey Abelia condominium near Orchard Road home.

Earlier this year, he was ranked 11th on a Forbes list of the 50 richest people in Singapore.

Mr Lim made headlines two years ago when he bought Spanish La Liga football club Valencia for $609 million.

Across the Causeway, his investment and real estate firm Rowsley is building a $1.2 billion healthcare facility in the Iskandar region of Johor.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on August 30, 2016, with the headline Billionaire makes police report over schemes in his name. Subscribe