KUALA LUMPUR (ANN/THE STAR) – Six suspects of an investment scam syndicate advertised on Facebook in March have been arrested.
According to Malaysia’s Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) Director Commissioner Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf, three men and three women aged between 31 and 54 were detained during raids in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Melaka, Pahang and Johor on July 15.
“Those detained were a company owner and secretaries, used by the syndicate as mule account holders.
“A total of 15 bank accounts containing MYR474,395 have been frozen,” he told a press conference here on Tuesday (July 23).
Comm Ramli said the syndicate offered up to 400 per cent returns to investors.
“The syndicate would inform the victims that there were profits from their investments but when they tried to take out the money, they would be charged various fees and ended up being unable to withdraw anything.
“A total of 48 reports have been lodged involving more than MYR21 million in losses,” he said.
Comm Ramli reminded the public that any investment offer on social media is a scam.
“Investment scams (have racked up) the highest amount of losses.
“Last year, a total of 5,386 cases were recorded involving MYR472 million in losses.
“This is 38.7 per cent of the total losses from online scams recorded last year,” he said, adding that the trend had continued this year with 2,698 cases recorded involving MYR345mil in losses so far.
