NEW information has emerged, casting doubts over the credibility and genuineness of Skyline Investment Group Company Ltd.
This is the Asian company the Sogavare government is courting to build 5,000 homes in Honiara for public servants in the next four years.
This same Asian company had earlier promised the government it would rehabilitate Henderson International Airport and upgrade the road from Henderson to the city.
That is provided the government issued them the green light to invest in the tourism sector.
But latest information the Solomon Star was provided claimed directors of Skyline Investment Group Company Ltd have defrauded more than 50,000 Chinese investors since September last year.
They allegedly used fake virtual coin investment and fake property development from Fiji and Solomon Islands to scam investors.
These allegations were contained in a widely circulated email that was sent to Mainland China embassies in the Pacific, as well as to media organisations.
The email, sent from one of the purported victims, called for the arrest of one of the directors, Jason Liu, and his deportation to China.
But in response, one of the directors of Skyline, Pan Yanbing, dismissed the email, describing it as work of those trying to tarnish his company’s reputation.
Mr Yanbing said they are genuine investors already operating in Fiji and in the process of moving over to the Solomons.
Let’s get it right here.
Solomon Islands needs more foreign investments.
This is good for the country because it creates job opportunities and boosts the economy.
However, we also need to be careful when dealing with foreign investors. Because not all foreign investors are genuine.
Some came here under the pretext of investment, but with hidden motives.
A thorough background check of every investor is crucial to ensure we are not dealing with con-men or fly-by night investors.
Solomon Islands is not new to con investors. We have had numerous encounters with them over the past years.
They came here with promises to invest millions of dollars in various projects, signed agreements with the government, but in the end nothing eventuates.
The government was embarrassingly left to lick its wounds.
Let’s hope this will not happen with Skyline Investment, which has promised to rehabilitate our international airport, upgrade our roads, and built 5,000 homes for public servants.
These promises look too good to be true. But the onus is on Skyline Investment to prove the widely circulated email wrong.
We also hope that the army of advisers in the Prime Minister’s Office did their due diligence check before courting Skyline Investment.
For if this proposed investment is later proven to be a scam, it would be a huge international embarrassment for Prime Minister Sogavare, his ministers and advisers, and Solomon Islands as a country.
The Sogavare government owes this nation a clarification on its dealings and relationship with Skyline Investment.
