Investment scammers chose Malaysia because it's 'conducive' - expert

The international investment scam syndicate which MACC busted earlier this year "set up shop" in Malaysia due to the conducive environment in the country.

New South Wales-based cybercrime investigator and chairperson of IFW Global Ken Gamble who started probing the group in 2020 after a tip-off said there were a few reasons for this.

"They look for countries where they can set themselves up securely, or where they can pay very low salaries.

"And they ultimately look for opportunities where they can bribe the officials," Gamble told Australian news agency 7News, which conducted an exclusive surveillance mission to round up the scammers, together with Gamble and the MACC.

According to the report, the syndicate which was masterminded by British nationals, targeted unsuspecting investors around the world, including Australians, using an elaborate set-up online where they advertised sales of securities in companies - some of which are listed in foreign stock exchanges.

A couple who lost AUS$250,000 (RM755,000) to the syndicate said they were tricked into buying non-existent shares in the said companies.

In total, the syndicate duped millions of dollars out of unsuspecting victims worldwide.

Gamble said that the Australian authorities knew of such scams, but did nothing to warn Aussies about it.

The scam syndicates reportedly used Virtual Private Networks (VPN) to carry out their activities, making them "almost impossible" to track down.

Raids kept under wraps

On the raids, the report said the MACC kept "Ops Tropicana", which rounded up the suspects, out of the police's knowledge as it believed the latter was "bribed to look the other way".

The operation was carried out in February, where the team raided 24 locations in Kuala Lumpur and Penang simultaneously.

The raided premises included three boiler rooms, two in Kuala Lumpur and one in Penang. In total, 10 people were rounded up, including five British and two Philippine nationals.

Last March, the Shah Alam Sessions Court sentenced two British men to six months in prison after they pleaded guilty to charges of involvement in the investment fraud syndicate.

In addition, the judge also fined Andrew Mark Peters, 55, RM180,000 or 22 months in prison and Darren Anthony Mcnicholas, 51, RM140,000 or 16 months in jail. - Mkini