KOTA KINABALU: Sabah police have smashed a Macau scam syndicate that cheated a professional here of RM1.4 million with the arrest of 80 Chinese nationals on Wednesday.
The suspects, including 13 women, were picked up by a police team from the state headquarters, Kota Kinabalu and Penampang after a raid on 11 luxury condos, including two penthouses.
Sabah police chief Omar Mammah said the team seized 69 laptops, more than 250 mobile phones and 150 network devices, and Chinese and Vietnamese currencies.
He said the syndicate had managed to scare the professional, aged 60, into paying them the sum last year.
“He had received a call from someone claiming to be ‘Insp Wong’ from the Penang police.
“The caller told him he was being probed for money laundering and that he should transfer RM1.4 million to 12 different accounts to avoid action,” he told reporters here today.
Omar said the 80 suspects, aged between 17 and 33, were also being investigated for immigration violations.
He said 10 of them were found with expired passports while the rest did not have any travel documents.
“We are looking at how they managed to slip into Sabah but we believe their documents could be held by the ring leader,” he said.
Based on initial investigations, Omar said the 10 people with expired passports had entered the country last month.
“The others could have been here longer. We don’t know yet because we don’t have their documents,” he said.
Omar said police were investigating whether the syndicate had cheated other victims.
He said police believed the group had also carried out stock investment scams.
“We will contact other state police contingents because the syndicate may have been active elsewhere,” he said. - FMT
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