Dato Vijay Eswaran freed from Police Custody

A much needed..... Hard Slap on the face of the people who wanted to malign Dato Vijay Eswaran's image and his Company QI group in his tough times.

After spending three weeks in a lock-up and another two months under house arrest in an apartment, he was cleared by the district court of south Jakarta.The 46-year-old group managing director of QI Limited found his name and photograph in Interpol’s Red Notice following police reports lodged by two of his Filipino partners.

He was arrested in Jakarta on May 3 this year.He was brought to the district court for an extradition hearing to move him to the Philippines to face charges in connection with a US$50 million (about RM170 million) alleged fraud case dating back nine years.

"I was optimistic that justice will prevail as I am innocent. Although it took three months to clear my name, I was willing to wait for the law to take its course," he said.

He was released on July 31 after the court rejected an extradition order on the grounds that the matter was a civil case involving a financial agreement.

Vijayeswaran said, initially, the police were harsh and rude."They treated me like a criminal even though they had little idea of what the case was all about. My arrest was based on information from the Interpol and had nothing to do with my business activities in Indonesia."

He added that when the authorities received more information from the Philippines, including the fact that the fraud case was 10 years old, the authorities were kinder and allowed him to move into an apartment within the police complex.

He held meetings with friends and associates at the apartment as security was lax and people were allowed to visit him. His wife, who arrived from Kuala Lumpur stayed in the apartment during his "house arrest".

He said his lawyers were working towards removing his name from the Interpol Red Notice.

He said while in Jakarta, more allegations were heaped on him, including that he had cheated former Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid or Gus Dur and his family.

Vijayeswaran was alleged to have used his multi-level marketing network to solicit funds from followers of Nahdlatul Ulama.

"Some people in Jakarta wanted to see me fall. Gus Dur eventually came forward to clear the air."

Vijayeswaran’s company, which is based in Hong Kong, has branches in 30 countries, from Australia to Brazil. Its regional office is in Petaling Jaya. It is a multinational multi-level marketing company with 2.5 million customers world- wide.

He is also an author and motivational speaker.

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