JOHOR BARU: His wife worked with a bank and was sentenced to prison for criminal breach of trust involving customers’ monies some time ago.
Now the husband, who has been working at the same bank for more than 15 years, is under investigation for cheating as he has been found operating an illegal investment scheme to bank customers.
The suspect, a personal financial adviser, has been promoting his illegal scheme to retirees and housewives who want to invest their life savings for extra returns.
The officer, who is in his 40s, paid returns of about 3% each month and even guaranteed the principal sum to entice customers.
The millionaire suspect, who has been running the scheme since 2015, got over 100 people to sign up for his “investment products”, which required a minimum payment of RM5,000.
The authorities got wind of the suspect’s activities when one of his victims lodged a complaint with the bank’s headquarters in Kuala Lumpur about not getting his dividend on time.
Police have uncovered more than 100 victims from Perak and Johor, with losses amounting to more than RM4mil.
It is learnt that a team of Perak Commercial Crimes Investigations Department officers arrested the bank officer several days ago, and he is expected to be charged at the Kampar Magistrate’s Court today.
Bukit Aman sources said the suspect usually targeted elderly bank customers who wanted better returns apart from investing in fixed deposits.
“The suspect forged bank documents and offered his special package promising payouts either monthly, or once every three or six months,” the sources said, adding that some of his investors had put in up to RM100,000.
It is learnt that the suspect also guaranteed the customer’s principal amounts to entice them to invest more.
The sources said that the suspect has been able to keep his operation under wraps since 2015, but his scheme was exposed when one of the victims went to the bank to verify the scheme.
“The bank also lodged a report in May and police officers from Perak immediately started investigations,” the sources said, adding that investigations were being carried out under Section 420 of Penal Code.
The sources said his ex-wife, a bank clerk, had forged some documents and managed to cash out a customer’s Amanah Saham Nasional savings worth a few hundred thousand ringgit in 2010.
“She served at least seven years in prison for the crime,” the source said, adding that the two divorced some time ago.
