GEORGE TOWN: With two prominent businessmen already in custody, police are now focusing on a third “Tan Sri” as investigations into the Mobility Beyond Imagination (MBI) money laundering scheme deepen.
The latest businessman, said to be in his 50s, is expected to be called in for questioning upon his return to Malaysia.
On Monday, police arrested a 62-year-old “Tan Sri” at his George Town residence. During the raid, officers also seized a white Rolls-Royce Ghost and a Ford Ranger Raptor. This same businessman had previously been detained for questioning last month but was released on the same day.
The Penang-based businessman, who owns a yacht docked at Straits Quay Yacht Club, is the managing director of a company with multi-billion housing and road projects in Penang, Perak and Kedah.
A few years ago, his company had shown interest in developing the Kulim International Airport (KXP), but the deal was terminated after it failed to comply with the agreement.
Another “Tan Sri” businessman based in Kuala Lumpur was also nabbed for acting as a proxy for scammers.
The 60-year-old man, who is the chairman of an oil and gas company, was arrested last month.
The Inspector General of Police secretariat’s anti-money laundering division head Comm Datuk Muhammad Hasbullah Ali had said in Tuesday’s press conference that this “Tan Sri” was not directly involved in the syndicate, but had duped a suspect into paying money to avoid arrest.
“The deal was originally for RM25mil and the suspect paid RM10mil as deposit.
“When he was arrested, the suspect told police that he had paid the money,” he said, adding that the suspect then made a police report.
“We arrested this ‘Tan Sri’ and the money paid was recovered.”
On Tuesday, Comm Muhammad Hasbullah added that five suspects had been nabbed from April 18 to April 21 during the second round of Ops Northern Star.
Among the assets seized included durian plantations in Pahang, Penang and Kedah worth RM223,624,167.75.
“A total of 299 bank accounts worth RM123,614,594.35 were also frozen,” he said during the press conference.
He added that police have been investigating the MBI case for over seven years. Based on an Interpol Red Notice, there are around 11 million victims from neighbouring countries.
Among the five recently arrested is a Penang-based “Datuk Seri,” believed to be an architect involved in an abandoned RM10bil development project. He is a well-known figure in the state.
In the first phase of the operation last month, police detained two Penang-based lawyers, both holding “Datuk” titles. Authorities seized several documents related to stock transactions and real estate deals.
A well-known “Datuk Seri” property tycoon and his wife were also nabbed in Kedah during that time.
Last August, MBI founder Tedy Teow was deported from Thailand to China to assist the Chinese government’s investigation in his role in the pyramid scheme.
It was reported that some two million Chinese nationals had been duped by Teow involving a sum of 500 billion yuan (RM300bil).
During its peak, MBI was said to have collected several billions from investors. But when the pyramid scheme collapsed in 2018 after a raid by Bank Negara, depositors were left with nearly no chance of recouping their losses.
It is believed that the recent police action to haul up several prominent businessmen was based on the exchange of intelligence between Bukit Aman and its Chinese counterpart following Teow’s interrogation.
