10 held in fraudulent withdrawal of RM24.7m from FD accounts to be charged

 

Ten individuals, including a bank manager, allegedly involved in fraudulent withdrawals of RM24.7 million from fixed deposit accounts of bank account holders, will be charged in Kota Kinabalu on Thursday.

Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said nine suspects would be charged under Section 130V(1) of the Penal Code for being a member of an organised crime group.

“Another person will be charged under the National Registration Regulations 1990,” he told reporters during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

Ramli said the 10 suspects who were detained earlier under Section 4(5) of the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma) 2012, would be charged after police investigations discovered elements and evidence of organised crime in the said case.

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“This is the first time that court action is being taken under provisions of Sosma for an offence involving commercial crime.

“On July 22, the deputy public prosecutor had given instructions to charge nine suspects under Section 130V(1) of the Penal Code and one under the National Registration Regulations 1990,” he said.

Meticulous planning

Ramli added that the syndicate had started planning the “heist” at the end of last year and started activating their plan from March to June.

“The syndicate had meticulously planned and carried out the activity of siphoning money from fixed deposit accounts, including using fake Mykads to carry out transactions and manipulating fingerprint scanners used by banks for verification purposes,” he said.

Last month, police reportedly arrested a bank employee suspected of being involved in the fraudulent withdrawals of fixed deposits amounting to RM24.2 million from four accounts and the suspect was later identified as a 38-year-old woman who was arrested in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

The arrest was made after police received four reports from account holders and bank staff in early June in Petaling Jaya, Selangor when the victims noticed suspicious cash withdrawals made in Kota Kinabalu involving their fixed deposit accounts.

He said all the account holders involved denied any knowledge of the transactions and said they had never been to Kota Kinabalu to make the withdrawals.

Police later detained 14 suspects, including bank officers and a “Datuk” businessperson after carrying out raids in Perlis and Sabah.

- Bernama