Late mother's unclaimed money missing from account, says retiree

SIBU: A retiree was shocked to find out that his late mother's unclaimed money has gone missing from the unclaimed money accounts.

The victim, Lau Kah Lee, 65, had earlier found out via the eGumis portal at https://egumis.anm.gov.my/ that there was RM116,000 belonging to his late mother, who passed away in 2008.

"On Dec 25 last year, I submitted the relevant documents to claim the money at the Accountant-General's Department counter here. However, to my horror, I was told that the money was no longer there," he said during a press conference at Sibu MP Oscar Ling's office on Monday (April 8).

Lau then lodged a police report on the matter on Jan 12.

Ling said under normal circumstances, once the unclaimed money is returned to the owner, a message "Tuntutan sudah dilaksanakan (claim has been made) would be displayed in the owner's account in the eGumis portal.

However, in Lau's mother's case, there was no such message.

Ling said that Lau’s mother's money had been unlawfully claimed by someone believed to be from a syndicate.

"This syndicate targets unclaimed money that has a huge amount. This is quite serious as I was told that the syndicate had forged documents from the district office, Accountant-General's Department and National Registration Department to get hold of the unclaimed money," he said.

Ling added that there were three other similar cases in Sibu, and said that the Finance Ministry is investigating.

"I also believe that there might be more unreported cases here," he added.

Ling also advised the people to check their status and claim their money if available through the eGumis portal.