Customers paid Volks Auto at least $2.5m in deposits for cars

As more people come forward to claim that they had been cheated by Volks Auto, the total amount of deposits believed to have been paid to the car dealership has reached a staggering $2.5 million.

This was compiled from the invoices of 81 people who had booked cars from the dealership at Three Rifles Building on MacPherson Road.

Angry customers of Volks Auto, which has been shuttered since Saturday, gathered at a McDonald's restaurant in Kallang from 4pm yesterday, and compiled their police reports and invoices.

They told The New Paper that a white Bentley, valued at more than $500,000, had disappeared overnight. It had been the only car left in the showroom.

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Mr Deen Safarrudin, 39, the operations manager of Three Rifles Building, confirmed that a man had taken the Bentley away some time on Tuesday night. It is unclear who the man is.

Many of the customers are convinced that Mr Alvin Loo, the director of Volks Auto,is avoiding them after taking the money meant as deposits for their purchases.

The parallel importer, who started trading in April, claimed to import a variety of makes, including Mercedes, Porsche, Honda and Toyota.

DEPOSITS

Most customers said they paid deposits of $20,000 to $30,000, while one claimed, in a WhatsApp chat group of angry customers of Volks Auto, that he paid $100,000.

IT manager K.K. Lo, 53, the de facto organiser of the WhatsApp chat group, said that while he hoped to get back his deposit of $20,000, the odds were against him.His sentiment was shared by the others.

When asked about the purpose of the gathering, Mr Lo said: "We want to see how many people there are in total, get them to make police reports, then compile these reports and get the authorities to do something."

The customers had initially planned to sign a petition, but decided a compilation of police reports would be more effective.

Mr Lo said: "I believe that after this, I won't have to go and look for the authorities. They will come and look for us instead."

A police spokesman said investigations are still on and no further details could be released.

When TNP went to Mr Loo's registered address at 47 Jalan Melor, the corner unit turned out to be a rented house. It is understood the owner of the house is looking for him to pay up.

A neighbour said that two women from a furniture company showed up at the house yesterday, only to find that the furniture, which is believed to have been rented, was no longer there. The furniture is valued at about $10,000.

As the fiasco moves into its fourth day, Mr Loo remains elusive. When TNP called his mobile phone, it went to a foreign voicemail.

Mr Lo said some customers had received a message from Mr Loo that he was in Hong Kong and would be back to "settle everything" today, but they remain doubtful.

"If he has problems, he should at least explain to us. But I think he's long gone."

"We want to see how many people there are in total, get them to make police reports, then compile these reports and get the authorities to do something."

- Mr K. K. Lo, on the purpose of the gathering