KUALA LUMPUR: A male Chinese national believed to be the ring leader and mastermind of an international scam syndicate was busted along with 13 syndicate members following raids on eight luxury condominium units in Persiaran Stonor.
The condominium units worth RM16mil, used as the syndicate’s call centre operations, were believed to have been bought by the mastermind, using funds derived from scam activities.
The raids were conducted by the Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) Operation and Intelligence Division’s Cyber Tactical Unit on Wednesday, which had conducted intelligence gathering on the syndicate since October last year.
Bukit Aman CCID director Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said besides the mastermind, others detained were six men and four women from China, a man from Turkiye and two local men.
“They were working as assistants to the mastermind, financial managers, customer service personnel and drivers.
“Investigations showed that the syndicate hosted a bogus online gaming competition on the ‘WeGame’ platform.
“They supposedly offered lucrative prizes, including computers and luxury bags, including from Louis Vuitton and Balenciaga.
“Syndicate members are tasked with joining chat rooms and online forums before inviting players from China to join their platform,” he told a press conference at CCID headquarters here yesterday.
Players who are interested in joining will be instructed to download an application and to make payment to join the competition, he said.
“Victims are also charged supposedly to continue to play the game but after the payments are made, the syndicate could not be contacted.”
Comm Ramli said the syndicate members entered Malaysia using social visit passes in October last year.
“We believe the mastermind set up call centres in the country using the money from scam activities in the Philippines.
“He also purchased the eight condominium units worth RM16mil by using the names of his ex-wife (also a China national) and other syndicate members.
“Each syndicate member is paid between RM3,000 and RM7,000 a month,” he said.
Comm Ramli said the raiding team seized RM4.89mil cash as well as other funds in foreign denominations.
“Various other things worth RM7mil were also seized, including two luxury multi-purpose vehicles, 27 mobile phones, 12 luxury handbags, four gold necklaces, 11 access cards and two ATM cards.
“All the suspects have been remanded.
“We are investigating under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating,” he said.
Comm Ramli reminded property managers and agents to closely scrutinise sale of luxury properties to foreigners, especially when such properties are being purchased using cash.
“Checks on the purpose of the purchase, the source of the funds and others to ensure that the buyer is not involved in criminal activities.
“Most premises used as scam call centres are mostly rented by the syndicates.
“We urge owners of premises to check the background of their potential tenants before renting out their properties,” he said.
