KUALA LUMPUR: An ongoing probe into illegal land transfers has led to the arrest of seven district and land office workers in Selangor, say police.
Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said they were among 17 suspects, aged between 33 and 57, detained so far.
“The syndicate paid insiders to exploit the system by deleting land ownership records.
“Investigations are underway to determine if other individuals are involved,” he said at a press conference here yesterday.
He was responding to updates on a cartel being investigated for illegal land transfers.
A total of seven cases have been linked to the group, with losses of RM7,101,000 from illegal transfers of 8.49ha land.
The case came to light after a report was made on suspicious transactions.
Cause for concern: Comm Ramli says over RM3bil in losses due to commercial crimes have been reported throughout 2024. — AZLINA ABDULLAH/The Star
It is believed that the group would identify dormant properties and use insiders in the district office to change ownership before selling it to other buyers.
Previously, a police investigation was opened after a report by an assistant district officer on the matter in November 2024 that several records were “lost”.
Comm Ramli said an investigation found that a cartel was exploiting the system to conduct illegal transfers of land ownership.
Meanwhile, he said over RM3bil in losses due to commercial crimes have been reported throughout 2024.
He said that the CCID had opened a total of 41,701 cases last year.
A huge part of last year’s statistics was due to cheating cases, with over RM2bil alone in losses from 37,240 cases.
For online scams the police recorded RM1,574,203,951.82 in total losses. Of that 7,662 cases were from e-commerce-related cases.
“In total, we have charged 40.3% or 16,813 cases in court with the remaining still under investigation,” said Comm Ramli .
He added that the charging rate was satisfactory due to the complex nature of commercial crimes.
