Businessmen cheated over money-laundering ‘probe’

A syndicate claiming to be government authorities has been cheating businessmen by saying they are being probed for money laundering.

KUALA LUMPUR: Some businessmen are being “investigated for money laundering” and the syndicate claiming to be the legitimate authorities tells them that if they pay up, the probe will be halted.

The syndicate tells their victims they are being probed under the the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) 2001. The victims fall for this ploy as the syndicate has tampered with the phone networks of enforcement agencies.

A reliable source told FMT that a syndicate, active since early this year, had succeeded in misleading hundreds of their victims by tampering with the phone network system of enforcement agencies.

A senior deputy public prosecuting (DPP) officer, who is fimiliar with the Act, said his office or police investigation officers very rarely contact individuals or companies investigated under the Act.

He said that in most cases, notice will be served under Section 44 of the Act to the respective banks to freeze the accounts, pending investigation.

“The onus is on the respective banks to inform their clients about the status of their accounts and contact enforcement agencies if the need arises,” added the officer.

He said that only in cases requiring further probes of suspected illegal transactions, the investigation officer will apply for a court order to be served on the individuals.

“We never contact anyone directly, especially in AMLA cases,” said the DPP.

Genuine telephone numbers

Meanwhile, officers of the city and Bukit Aman commercial department confirmed that they have received several reports of people being misled to bank in their cash to avoid being investigated under the Act.

An officer said last week that a businesswoman from Penang lodged a report, claiming she was tricked by several individuals to transfer RM70,000 into the account of a third party.

She claimed she first received a call from a police officer, followed by a Bank Negara official and another call from the DPP’s office.

The woman in her late 40s, who initially was not convinced, verified the telephone numbers and found that they were the genuine numbers of the respective agencies.

“The woman paid the money in stages to the bogus enforcement officers,” added the officer.

The woman only decided to lodge reports after being advised by her lawyer about the syndicate.

Meanwhile, FMT learnt that a special task force comprising Bukit Aman Commercial Department officers, engineers of Telekom Malaysia and some telco companies are probing on how the phone lines are being tampered with.