KUALA LUMPUR: Seventeen suspects have been detained for alleged involvement in an investment scam misusing the name of a legitimate investment company, says Bukit Aman.
Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said the suspects, aged between 23 and 52, were detained in the city recently in connection with the so-called "Pantheon Ventures" scam.
"They worked as a company director, a secretary and agents tasked with finding mule accounts for the syndicate.
"We seized various items including 13 mobile phones, a laptop, six ATM cards and a bank statement," he told a press conference at CCID headquarters on Tuesday (Sept 24).
Comm Ramli said the department has opened 66 investigation papers on the scam, which has been blamed for losses totalling RM32.9mil since January.
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"A total of 20 bank accounts comprising seven company accounts, 12 business accounts and a personal account were used by the syndicate," he said.
Comm Ramli said the syndicate operated fully online and used the name of a renowned investment company to dupe victims.
"Investigation showed that an investment company named Pantheon Ventures has existed in the United Kingdom since 1982. However that company has no connections to the scam syndicate," he said.
The syndicate used Facebook and WhatsApp for advertising and communicating with its victims.
"The advertisements were on Facebook, using its algorithm to reach optimum results in terms of views by social media users.
"They offered returns between 6% and 400% a day depending on the investment packages offered.
"The victims were also 'reassured' by the claim that a trading guru would be guiding them as well," he added.
Victims were told to deposit funds for investment into certain bank accounts and also to download applications such as APEX and NEEQ via Google Play and the App Store, he said.
"However, victims would not receive any returns.
"We are still tracking down seven others to assist with the investigation," he added.
