Accountant, ex-banker lose RM9mil to scammers

KUALA LUMPUR: An accountant and a former banker have lost nearly RM9mil to scammers recently.

According to Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department director Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf, a report was received from a 70-year-old retired banker who claimed to have lost RM3.83mil to a scammer.

"She lodged a report that she received a call from an individual claiming to be from an insurance company in November 2022.

"She was told that insurance claims were made under her name but she denied it and was connected to another individual who claimed to be with the police," he said.

The victim was instructed to open another bank account and hand over control of it to the caller.

He said the victim was not allowed to access the account or update it but in September last year she decided to check it and found that RM3,839,000 had been withdrawn from the account.

"We opened fraud investigations before conducting an operation in Kuala Lumpur on Feb 13 where we arrested six men and three women aged between 28 and 42.

"Based on our checks these individuals played roles in this case as mule account and mule company providers," he said, adding that police also seized 11 mobile phones, nine ATM cards, a passport and RM377 cash.

He said 61 cases have been linked to these individuals involving RM28.92mil.

In the case of the accountant who lost RM5.04mil to a bogus cryptocurrency investment scheme, Comm Ramli said they received a report on Feb 7 from the 55-year-old complainant who claimed he took part in a foreign investment scheme.

"Based on our investigations the complainant had in August conducted dealings with an individual online to invest in a cryptocurrency scheme based in the United States," he told reporters on Friday (Feb 16).

He said further checks revealed the man made 143 transactions totalling RM5.04mil between August and January to several cryptocurrency wallets.

"The man suspected he had been cheated when he could no longer get in touch with the individual who was managing his investments," he said.