THE much-awaited JJ Poor to Rich (JJPTR) dinner at Berjaya Times Square Hotel in Kuala Lumpur was shrouded in secrecy following the arrest of its founder, Johnson Lee, a few days ago.

About 300 people were spotted lining up and entering the hall where the dinner was supposed to take place at 7.30pm, with three men occupying what seemed to be a registration counter.

Outside the Manhattan II ballroom, the digital display only said “banquet dinner”, which was scheduled for between 7.30pm and 10pm.

The Malaysian Insight attempted to interview several of those present, but most were tight-lipped about the event.

Curiously, five of those interviewed said they were invited by their friends to eat as they (friends) had already paid for the food and it should not be wasted.

“My friends invited me here. They said they wanted to promote a vegetarian diet and have already paid for the food, but they couldn’t make it,” a woman in her 50s said, while a man and another woman in her group nodded.

A few others gave similar reasons, either saying that their friends were busy or that they did not want to be hounded by reporters, aware of the adverse publicity surrounding JJPTR.

However, all could not give a straight answer when asked if the friends they mentioned were investors.

A few others simply said “no” and walked away when asked if they were JJPTR investors.

By 8.15pm, most of those present had entered the ballroom, and reporters were herded away.

The men manning the registration counters were also evasive when approached by reporters.

“Media are not allowed in the ballroom… we are only hired to check the name list, that’s all,” one said while the other added that they could not tell reporters anything.

DAP’s Kampung Tunku assemblyman Lau Weng San, too, attempted to enter at 7.40pm but was prevented from doing so.

Lau told reporters that he was looking for explanations but those in charge did not seem to be there. – May 20, 2017.