Wasting no time

Comm Mazlan (second left) at a July 2018 press conference announcing the break up of an illegal World Cup betting ring. With him is SAC Fadzil Ahmat (left).

It has only been little more than a month since he was appointed the director of Bukit Aman’s Commercial Crimes Investigation Department but Comm Datuk Mazlan Mansor is wasting no time tackling pertinent issues relating to white-collar crimes nationwide. The seasoned crime buster talks so Sunday Star about his plans for the department. 

TACKLING white collar crime, dealing with public perception, and clearing backlogged cases are among some of the issues being juggled by the newly appointed director of the Bukit Aman Commercial Crimes Investigation Department (CCID).

But what of the case that everyone has been abuzz about for months, the 1MDB scandal? Seasoned crime buster Comm Datuk Mazlan Mansor points out that it is far from the only thing on his new plate.

“Many people think that with the 1MDB investigations going on, that I had my work cut out for me as soon as I took office, but this wasn’t the case.

“I took over from Datuk Seri Amar Singh earlier this year and he did a great job keeping the ship in shape. That being said, 1MDB is just one of the cases that we are investigating and business does have to go on as usual for us,” he tells Sunday Star in an exclusive interview.

For one thing, Comm Mazlan aims to change the way people think when it comes to scams by making it instinctive for them to consult the police first before blindly following instructions from a person at the other end of a telephone call.

“Our people lose between RM1.5bil and RM2bil yearly to telecommunications scams.

Gearing up: Among Comm Mazlan’s plans in his new position is to make it easier for complainants to find out details about their cases, as Commercial Crimes Investigation Department cases can take a long time to resolve.

“The main reason I feel this happens is due to the fact that most victims fall into two categories, the ones who have no clue about what goes on daily, and the ones who do but think it couldn’t happen to them,” he says, adding that the ones that do not have a clue have to be educated about what could happen before they are duped, while the ones who don’t think it could happen to them need to change their mindset.

He says when victims receive a call from a scammer, it sounds so real that they believe everything the caller says instantly and will transfer money out – and only then will they think to consult the police.

“This needs to change. They must consult us first before they do anything else,” he says, adding that the fact that scammers tend to use technology such as voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) has been published in the media time and time again, along with these people’s modus operandi.

In terms of trending cases Comm Mazlan says Macau scams are the main threat the force is dealing with at the moment.

“When I say Macau scam, you may understand me, but the layman might ask what it is. This also needs to change. We need to relabel these scams so the public can understand them better.

“Macau scams are basically scams that occur over a telephone line so why not we call them telecommunication scams instead?” he says, adding that he believes the language used is key to having more people understand what is going on around them.

He says transborder crime is also a major concern for his department when it comes to telephone-based scams.

“We know and realise the importance of cooperation with our foreign counterparts.

While he was Selangor police chief, Comm Mazlan was involved in breaking up telephone scam rings like the Macau scam syndicate whose members he is pointing out at this August 2018 press conference.

“Last year, together with our counterparts from China, we arrested 93 Chinese nationals operating a call centre in Brickfields (Kuala Lumpur) targeting victims in China.

“We also crippled a syndicate targeting victims in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia with the arrest of two Nigerians and 16 Malaysians here. And 13 other members of the same syndicate were also arrested in Hong Kong and Singapore,” he says.

Comm Mazlan says the cooperation with other agencies will help deter foreigners from turning Malaysia into a hub for such scams.

“They have to know that even if they come here, swift and stern action will be taken,” he says.

Among his many other plans is one that will make it easier for complainants to access information regarding pending investigations; he is also pushing his investigators to solve cases swiftly.

“On my investigators side, I am looking at making it easier for complainants to find out details about their cases.

“In many instances, CCID cases can be lengthy and, in the blink of an eye, three or more years have passed and the case has been abandoned.

“When this happens, the complainant will come looking for me or my superiors. Seeing this,

I have instructed my investigators to keep their complainants updated and explain to them how they are probing into the cases. I have also instructed them to conduct their investigations swiftly and professionally,” Comm Mazlan says.- Star