MARAN: Pahang police have dismantled a fly-by-night syndicate involved in fraudulent purchases of vehicle spare parts and heavy machinery, resulting in losses totalling RM273,676.70.
State police chief Datuk Seri Yahaya Othman said the success was the result of intelligence gathering and special operations conducted by the Pahang Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID), in collaboration with the Selangor and Perak Police Contingent Headquarters (IPK).
"The operation conducted in Cheras and Semenyih, Selangor, on Sept 29 resulted in the arrest of a Pakistani national and a local man.
"A follow-up operation conducted on Oct 2 in Kajang, Selangor, led to the arrest of three more suspects, as well as two individuals who were re-arrested for further investigation,” he told a press conference at Dewan Balora here today.
Yahaya said that on the same day, the Sarawak CCID arrested a local woman in Kuching, Sarawak, who was believed to be involved in preparing fake transfer receipts, bringing the total number of individuals arrested to six, all aged 34 to 52.
He added that checks revealed that the suspects had prior criminal records, including drug-related offences.
Yahaya said the syndicate was believed to have been involved in eight fraud cases reported in Pahang, Selangor and Perak between June and September.
"In Pahang, the victim in Maran suffered losses of RM76,950 on Sept 23, while the Jerantut case on Sept 24 involved losses of RM23,710 and the case in Bentong on Aug 27 saw losses of RM6,055,” he said.
Yahaya said that among the items seized were track links, track shoes, sprockets, track rollers, 42 barrels of various brands of engine oil, vehicle batteries, and brake fluid.
He said the syndicate’s modus operandi involved ordering goods via WhatsApp before sending fake money transfer receipts (IBG/GIRO) to the victims.
"The victims would send the items via a courier and only realised they had been cheated when the money was not received in their account,” he said.
Yahaya said the arrested suspects were believed to be middlemen, while the police were still tracking down the mastermind, known as "Lee” or "Wilson”.
He said the case was being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code. - Bernama
