Bank officers among 16 nabbed for selling accounts and ATM cards

SHAH ALAM: Two bank officers are among 16 people arrested for alleged involvement in a syndicate that buys and sells bank accounts and ATM cards for fraudulent activities.

Selangor police chief Comm Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said the suspects were arrested in several raids around Gombak between March 20 and 22.

"One of those arrested was a Nigerian woman. We also seized 31 mobile phones, 30 ATM cards, a printer, a laptop and a file containing various documents.

"One suspect, believed to be the mastermind of the syndicate, has a criminal record and was once detained under the Prevention of Crime Act 1959," he told reporters on Friday (March 29).

Comm Hussein said the syndicate would approach individuals to open bank accounts.

It would offer one-off payments of between RM500 and RM1,500 to these individuals to open accounts and sell them to the syndicate, he said.

He added that the suspects would act as runners, collecting ATM cards and also acting as go-betweens for the syndicate and bank officers involved.

"Our investigations found that the syndicate would then rent or sell the accounts and ATM cards to scam syndicates nationwide," he said.

These syndicates would buy the cards for up to RM8,000 a piece, Bernama reported.

Comm Hussein also said the bank officers allegedly helped open 40 accounts over the past six months and charged the syndicate about RM250 for each ATM card they processed.

"From investigations, it is also found that five of the bank accounts seized during the raid were used in 15 cases of online fraud involving a loss of RM2.3mil," he said, adding that the syndicate has been active for at least six months.

Anyone with information on such activities should contact the police hotline at 03-2052 9999 or go to the nearest police station, he added.