JOHOR BARU: A break-in at a pawnshop in Kota Tinggi, allegedly orchestrated to cover up a long-running criminal breach of trust (CBT), has led to the arrest of seven people, including two women.
Johor police chief Comm Datuk Ab Rahaman Arsad said the suspects, aged between 29 and 48, were believed to have carried out the operation on the instructions of the outlet’s former manager.
“Investigation revealed that the break-in was carefully planned by a 44-year-old former female manager and two former colleagues to destroy evidence,” he told a press conference at the state police headquarters here yesterday.
He said the current branch manager lodged a police report at 11.42am on Nov 6, claiming that the premises had been broken into and that jewellery and cash worth an estimated RM28.4mil were stolen.
“Initial investigations at the scene found that the suspects had allegedly entered through the front entrance and escaped through the back door,” he said.
Police teams from Bukit Aman’s D4 Criminal Investigation Department, the Johor police contingent and Kota Tinggi police carried out raids on Nov 7 and 8.
The seven suspects were arrested at separate locations in Kota Tinggi and Johor Baru.
Comm Ab Rahaman said the former manager’s husband, 43, had also been picked up to assist investigations.
He said police seized 2,891 pieces of jewellery, RM27,371 in cash, two pawnshop receipts, two sets of keys, two sling bags and a mobile phone from a house in Johor Baru.
“Police believe most of the jewellery stolen and subsequently recovered was imitation pieces, which the suspects had allegedly pawned using false identities,” he said.
The alleged practice had been going on for four to five years, he added.
Comm Ab Rahaman said one male suspect had two previous criminal records, while urine tests on all seven suspects returned negative results.
Four of the suspects have been remanded for seven days from Nov 8 to 14, while the remaining three were remanded from Nov 9 to 15.
The case is being investigated under Section 457 of the Penal Code for housebreaking and Section 408 for criminal breach of trust.
Comm Ab Rahaman urged those with information to contact the Johor police.
