KUALA LUMPUR: The police can now block or seize transactions involving funds suspected of being linked to financial crimes, including mule accounts, as announced in the Dewan Rakyat.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) M. Kulasegaran stated that recent amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code (Act 593) and Penal Code (Act 574), effective from Oct 30, empower the police to seize and block financial assets associated with online fraud cases.
These amendments focus on establishing offences related to online mule accounts and introduce new provisions allowing police officers to seize funds suspected of criminal involvement stored in financial institutions.
Notably, the amendment to Act 593 adds Section 116D, authorising police officers with the rank of Sergeant or higher to seize or restrict transactions involving funds held and suspected of involvement with any payment instrument or financial institution account, along with related matters, he explained during the Minister’s Question Time on Thursday (Nov 18).
Kulasegaran was responding to a question from Lim Lip Eng (PH-Kepong) about when the government would introduce legislation empowering the police or banks to temporarily block banking transactions for individuals targeted by scams.
He further elaborated that the amendments empower the police to block such assets from further transactions, preventing the withdrawal of victims' funds from mule accounts in online scams.
This measure complements existing provisions under Section 435 of Act 593, which relate to police powers to seize property suspected of being stolen, including fraud, primarily focusing on physical assets.
In this context, the police can act if there are reasonable grounds to suspect an offence has been committed, if the property has been used or is intended to be used in committing an offence, or if the property is evidence of an offence, he added.
Kulasegaran reported that a total of 131,036 calls were made to the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) from October 2022 to September this year.
Of these, 52,836 calls were from scam victims, with reported losses amounting to RM302.1mil.
