GEORGE TOWN: A syndicate offering non-existing loans amounting in the millions but collecting processing fees have been busted following the arrest of 13 people.
A script, believed to deceive unsuspecting people, was also found from the suspects.
State police chief Comm Datuk Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain said the loans were offered via social media including Facebook and WhatsApp.
He said the syndicate, operating from a luxury condominium in Bukit Mertajam, would contact potential victims before deceiving them by collecting payment as a processing fee.
"There had been 132 investigation papers involving this syndicate with losses totalling RM1.9mil.
"Following a tip-off from the public, Seberang Prai police raided the premises on June 15 and arrested nine men and four women, all local aged between 19 and 30.
"They are from Melaka, Negri Sembilan, Johor, Selangor, Sabah and Penang and three of them have criminal and drug-related records," he said in a press conference here on Monday (June 20).
Comm Mohd Shuhaily said three laptops, 27 handphones and 10 notebooks with phone numbers and victims’ bank account details were also seized from them.
He said the case was being investigated under Section 427 of the Penal Code for mischief and Section 420 of the same code for cheating.
