Dato’ Sri Vida, a beauty mogul and polarising figure on the Malaysian scene, is coming under heat as the investors of her ill-fated initial coin offering (ICO) LaVida Coin are demanding their money back.

According to the Harian Metro, the 41 investors are demanding to be repaid to the tune of RM59 million. Dato’ Sri Vida claims to have no knowledge of the demands and will be seeking legal advise on this.

She declined to comment further on the issue as it was a legal matter but implied that this is a deliberate attack on her reputation and business.

Dato’ Sri Vida added that she is willing to face the investors and have an open discussion about the issue.

While they may not have personally contacted her, the investors had held a press conference earlier to demand their money back after having invested in the LaVida Coin.

They made claims that they have not been able to recoup their investment as well as the promised profits (if there were any) since 2018.

The ICO had initially planned to raise a US$1.5 billion for three areas; an entrepreneur-focused online entertainment channel (US$1 billion), the development of a LavidaPay payment gateway (US$100 million) and the construction of a mosque, described as non-profit (US$400 million).

Fintech News Malaysia had previously done an in-depth commentary of the LaVida Coin’s plans where we uncovered an alarming number of red flags with regard to the project in August 2018.

Just a month later, the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) has issued a notice ordering Dato’ Sri Vida to cease all promotional activities with immediate effect.

Both the SC and Bank Negara Malaysia had also added DSV Crypto Club, LUX Galaxies and VI Profit Galaxy to their investor alert lists as these companies were also promoting the LaVida Coin.