MACC detains more cops in connection with illegal online gambling, money laundering

KUALA LUMPUR: Several senior police officers attached to the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters and district police headquarters have been detained by graft busters.

So far, sources said two OCPDs and four officers from the CID branch have been picked up by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), in connection with protecting illegal gambling activities, which is run by a local cartel.

"At least seven senior officers have been detained in connection with illegal online gambling and money laundering.

"The process to pick up others to assist investigations is still ongoing," sources said.

The police have also called up several CID senior officers for investigations and to record their statements.

It is learnt that the names of the police personnel and officers were obtained by the MACC through initial investigations on a man, believed to be a mastermind of the syndicate, and his right-hand man, who is a Datuk.

Both men were detained last Saturday and Sunday, following investigations on a few celebrities and popular personalities, who are suspected of conducting businesses using funds obtained from illegal online gambling and Macau scams.

It was previously reported that RM85mil had been seized from a Macau scam and illegal gambling syndicate, but graft busters are now widening the net to nab more individuals, including police officers.

The MACC, which has nabbed 20 individuals (including eight police officers and a Chinese national) so far, will be making more arrests in the coming days.

Sources said that the RM85mil is the tip of the iceberg, and the MACC expects to confiscate more of the illegally-gotten gains that will be put into the government’s coffers.

MACC chief commissioner Datuk Seri Azam Baki had said graft busters have crippled the syndicate’s operations by freezing their accounts – 730 of it with RM80mil inside these accounts – as well as RM5mil in cash.

MACC investigators also seized 23 luxury cars of various makes – Bentley, Rolls Royce, Lamborghini, Ferrari and Porsche – believed to be purchased from returns from the illegal activities carried out by the individuals.

It is understood that celebrities and famous personalities were among victims of the scam, and Azam said some may have either knowingly

or unwittingly accepted money from this syndicate for business purposes.