UK national mastermind investment scammer
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) uncovered an investment fraud syndicate masterminded by citizens of the United Kingdom (UK) in raids around the capital and Penang on Tuesday.
MACC Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said that Op Tropicana was carried out in collaboration with the Malaysian Immigration Department (JIM), the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, Cyber Security Malaysia, Telekom Malaysia, the Malaysian Companies Commission, Tenaga Nasional Berhad and the Inland Revenue Board.
According to Azam, 24 raids have been carried out including three call centers or ‘ boiler rooms ‘, companies and the homes of syndicate members.
“The raid was carried out with the intelligence method of ‘ lntelligence base investigation ‘, ‘ financial investigation’ , ‘ covert operative’ , ‘ undercover’ and several investigation methods were used.
“Intelligence is also in collaboration between agencies in Australia and several foreign countries and was also made by the Money Laundering and Asset Forfeiture Division (AMLA) of MACC,” he said on Tuesday.
He added that the members of this syndicate consisted of Australians, the UK, South Africa and the Philippines.
“They are believed to have defrauded the victims consisting of Australian and UK citizens by tricking them into making non-existent investments,” he said.
Azam said, the modus operandi of this syndicate is to find victims through social media and phone calls.
He said syndicate members would contact victims after they clicked on a link to register in the investment company and enter personal details.
“Victims will be convinced to invest in an investment company that does not exist and the company is just a fictitious one.
“This criminal scammer is believed to have earned about AUD60 million (about RM200 million) as a result of defrauding the victims involved since 2019 until now. However, this is part of an international syndicate that is believed to have defrauded victims around the world of up to RM1 billion,” he said.
Azam said that, apart from that, the syndicate is also believed to have bribed the authorities to safeguard the safety of the syndicate members and facilitate the syndicate’s operations in their ‘boiler room’ (call center) in the country.
Meanwhile, MACC AMLA Director, Datuk Mohamad Zamri Zainul Abidin who led the raid confirmed that a total of 11 individuals suspected of being involved in the activity were arrested while a total of 70 people were detained by the immigration department.
“A total of 74 accounts belonging to individuals and companies were frozen with an estimated amount of RM11 million.
“Remand applications for all individuals will be implemented on February 22 (Wednesday),” he said.
In the meantime, Sinar Harian who participated in the operation found that a UK man suspected of being a member of the syndicate jumped through a window on the 14th floor to the roof and fell to the 11th floor.
The actions of the man involved led to injury after he was believed to have broken his arm and leg.
