KUALA LUMPUR: A foreigner, who was the leader of an online gambling syndicate, has attempted to launder a total of RM299.6mil here, according to police.
IGP secretariat’s Anti-Money Laundering (Amla) division head Comm Datuk Muhammed Hasbullah Ali said the money, which was proceeds from illegal gambling, have been seized.
Comm Hasbullah said the funds were transferred into the country by the foreigner who is still at large.
“The individual tried to evade detection by transferring the illegal funds from overseas into the country via an offshore financial service.
“The suspect, in his 30s, opened an offshore account last year with the aim of transferring the funds into Malaysia.
“He wanted to launder the funds derived from the illegal activity,” he said.
Comm Hasbullah said the suspect holds dual citizenship of two foreign countries.
“He received proceeds from illegal gambling through commissions from bets placed by gamblers on his online gambling platform.
“The suspect had about 10,000 gamblers, who placed up to RM14.05bil worth of bets between 2012 and 2020.
“Some RM371mil of the proceeds were transferred into Malaysia,” he said.
Comm Hasbullah said the division has frozen the funds brought into Malaysia’s economic system.
“One of it is a Central Depository System (CDS) account, which has 108,625 units of shares worth RM281mil.
“We also seized an escrow account worth RM18.5mil, handled by a local investment bank as well as two local bank accounts with RM58,048 in funds.
Comm Hasbullah said the suspect, who is still at large, also has an Interpol Red Notice, requested from authorities in his country of origin.
“We need the cooperation from the private sector to curb money laundering.
“We need their cooperation in supplying information on suspicious financial transaction.
“We also remind all offshore banks to conduct due diligence before accepting any customer,” he said.
