JOHOR BARU: A brutal syndicate posing as insurance agents has been uncovered in Kulai, following the murder of a 38-year-old man last month to claim a life insurance payout of RM500,000.
Johor police chief Comm M. Kumar said that the syndicate had orchestrated the murder to appear as a road accident, enabling them to file an insurance claim.
He explained that the syndicate's modus operandi involved identifying and approaching individuals who do not have any next of kin.
He added that the syndicate would then take out a life insurance policy in the victim's name without their knowledge, and then name another unknown individual as the beneficiary.
"The insurance agent forged the victim's signature during the policy application process and waited until the policy was approved.
"Once the policy was approved and insurance premiums were paid for several months, the suspects planned the murder, staging it as a fatal accident," he said at a press conference at the Johor police headquarters, here, on Monday (June 24).
Comm Kumar revealed that at 4.40am on May 6, the victim, riding a motorcycle, was rammed by two cars and another motorcycle on Jalan Senai-Seelong in Kulai.
“The 38-year-old victim, who was still alive after the collision, was then beaten by four suspects at the accident scene.
"The critically injured victim was subsequently run over by a lorry passing by, killing him on the spot," he explained.
Comm Kumar added that the post-mortem report then revealed injuries on the victim's body that were inconsistent with road accident injuries.
Further investigation led to the arrest of eight local men, aged between 23 and 49 years old, at various locations to assist in the investigation.
"Four of the detainees have previous criminal records. Police also seized an insurance policy document in the victim's name and three vehicles used in the incident," he added.
"After the victim's death, the suspects filed an insurance claim through an agent who was also a syndicate member.
"Police investigations confirmed that the motive was a fraudulent insurance claim. This is the first case of its kind in the state.
"However, the claim was not processed as the syndicate's modus operandi was uncovered by the Johor contingent Criminal Investigation Department," he said.
The case is being investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code for muder, with four of the suspects charged in court on June 19, while the remaining four were released on bail.
"We are actively tracking down several more suspects who are still at large," he added.
