KUALA TERENGGANU: A financial analyst lost his savings of RM147,350 to a fraudulent investment syndicate that operated through a non-existent scheme.
Kuala Terengganu OCPD Asst Comm Azli Mohd Noor said the 42-year-old victim saw a stock investment advertisement on a social media platform in February.
He said the victim then tapped the advertisement link and was invited to join a WhatsApp group comprising 125 members to discuss stock market trends.
"One of the group members claimed to be an employee of a securities and investment company based in China. The suspect persuaded the victim to invest using a platform, but required him to transfer money to several company accounts beforehand as part of the stock trading process.
"The suspect assured the victim that he would be able to monitor all transaction records through the platform and freely manage the funds for stock purchases and sales," Azli said in a statement on Saturday.
Azli said the victim made 13 money transfers of RM147,350 to five different bank accounts to invest.
He said that in addition to using his savings, the victim had also borrowed money from his mother and used company funds.
"The victim lodged a police report at 7.36pm yesterday after failing to see any returns from the investment to date. The case is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating," he added. – Bernama
