Nabbed: Officers from the Taiwan Criminal Investigation Bureau searching two suspects believed to be involved in scam syndicates operating in Cambodia. — AP
WHAT was supposed to be a fun vacation in Cambodia turned into a nightmare for a Malaysian woman after she was kidnapped and forced to work for a scam call centre, Sin Chew Daily reported.
According to Melaka MCA Youth chief Denis Lee Han Lim, the victim contacted him for help on Aug 15 when she was forced to quarantine after contracting Covid-19.
“Miss Qiu travelled to Cambodia on July 23. However, while she was having dinner on Aug 7, a group of Chinese nationals cornered her and prevented her from leaving.
“Despite repeatedly screaming for help, no one came to her aid,” Lee was quoted as saying.
He said when the thugs failed to force her to transfer all her funds from her bank accounts to them, they resorted to trading her off to human traffickers.
Lee revealed that Qiu ended up being sold to a scam call centre and was forced to work for them.
After obtaining Qiu’s details, Lee quickly relayed them to the office of Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng through social media on Aug 21.
“On Aug 23, Miss Qiu personally informed me that she was rescued. She is currently helping the police with the investigation and will be back in Malaysia soon,” he said.
Lee said Malaysians were in high demand by crime syndicates due to their proficiency in multiple languages. They were tasked with scamming mostly Westerners.
> Eleven Vietnamese nationals were arrested for poaching and selling protected wildlife after entering Malaysia using tourist visas, China Press reported.
The Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) said the men were part of a syndicate operating in Kuala Dungun, Terengganu, which poached animals such as otters, the Malayan tapir, pangolins, crocodiles and foxes.
According to Perhilitan director-general Datuk Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim, the poachers were arrested following two raids on Tuesday.
There were 12 poachers there, but one managed to escape.
The syndicate was also found with various dismembered animal parts, including pangolin scales, porcupine quills, and lizard feet, as well as teeth, nails, and bones of various animals, he said.
He said Perhilitan will be investigating the case under the Wildlife Conservation Act (2010).
> Two teenagers in Johor have taken over their family hawker business to support their younger siblings after the death of their parents, Sin Chew Daily reported.
Tragedy struck the family twice in less than a year, with their father dying after contracting Covid-19 in September 2021 and their mother died after a stroke in May this year.
To support their nine-year-old brother, who is still in school, Ye Jia Hao, 19, and his 17-year-old sister have since begun operating their parents’ wantan mee stall in Taman Melodies Johor Baru.
Jia Hao said that since they often helped their parents man the wantan mee stall since they were young, they had no problem running it themselves.
● The above article is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this ' >'sign, it denotes a separate news item.
