Two letters sent

However, in May this year, Mr Lee got his first hint that not all was rosy when he received a letter from OilPods informing him of a lawsuit involving Powder River.

He ignored the letter at the time because he does not read English and thought it was just a routine update.

In September, he received yet another follow-up letter from OilPods informing him that his investments were in jeopardy.

Said his daughter, Miss Joe Lee, 28: 'When my father showed us (his children) the letter, we were shocked because we didn't even know he had made these investments.'

She claimed she then confronted the uncle who had sold her father the investments.

He, in turn, claimed he had fully explained the OilPods investment to her father and that her father had been aware of the risks involved.

She said: 'My father is retiring next year. He shouldn't have been encouraged to make such a risky investment.

'But my father is a very simple and honest man,' she said.

'He has always been very supportive of his younger brother - whatever he sells, my father would try to buy whenever possible.'

After she learnt of her father's investment woes, she went to OilPods' office to learn more about the company.

It was there that she found out even more about the ongoing legal proceedings in the US involving Powder River.

She said: 'I decided to approach the authorities for help. But it has been difficult because OilPods isn't classified as a financial institution.

'If I want to go through mediation, OilPods would have to agree to it and we would have to pay a fee, too.'

She added that she is reluctant to pursue legal action against OilPods because of the potentially huge legal fees involved.

Case helps

Mr Seah Seng Choon, executive director of the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case), said one complaint has been made against OilPods.

He said Case has written to both the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Commercial Affairs Department about OilPods to get them to look into the matter.

On whether he blames his younger brother for his predicament, Mr Lee said resignedly: 'We trusted him a lot over the years. After this, naturally, our confidence in him has been shaken.

'It's a large sum of money and of course I am upset about it. But I'll just treat it as bad luck that this had to happen.'

This article was first published in The New Paper on November 07, 2008.