KUALA LUMPUR: Thirteen suspects have been detained for suspected involvement in a land scam syndicate and cartel at a district land office in Selangor, says Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf.
The Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director said an investigation was launched after an assistant district officer lodged a police report earlier this month.
"He detected a few transfers of land ownership that seemed suspicious.
"He also reported some important documents missing in the transactions, including land transfer forms from the Land Office vault," he told a press conference at CCID headquarters here on Tuesday (Nov 26).
An investigation found that a syndicate and a cartel were exploiting the system to conduct illegal transfers of land ownership, he said.
"The syndicate is believed to have deliberately 'lost' important records to hide its tracks.
"We have detained seven men and six women aged between 26 and 59.
"Those detained were civil servants and civilians," Comm Ramli said, adding that the case has been classified under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
"We are committed to curbing commercial crimes such as this as it not only disrupts the lives of individuals but it threatens the integrity of the land administration system.
"We urge the public to stay vigilant and report any form of commercial crimes," he said.
