4 Taiwanese held in condominium raid
KUALA LUMPUR: Police have thwarted the plans of a Macau scam syndicate with the arrest of four Taiwanese men at a condominium unit in Jalan Kuchai Lama here last Tuesday.
City police chief Datuk Seri Mazlan Lazim said the 6pm raid by the Dang Wangi district Commercial Crime Investigation Department followed a report lodged by a 47-year-old woman on Jan 16.
Mazlan said the victim, a staff member at an oil company, received a call from a man, who claimed to be a Customs officer.
The man claimed that the victim had RM16,000 in Goods and Services Tax (GST) arrears and was wanted by Kedah police for drug abuse and money laundering cases.
“The caller asked the victim to transfer a certain amount to a given account, saying that if she failed to comply, her account would be frozen.
“The victim transferred RM10,500 to an account.
“She realised that she had been cheated when she failed to contact the caller,” Mazlan said at the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters here.
He said two men, aged 27 and 35, were believed to be the masterminds of the syndicate.
“We seized 56 ATM cards, 15 mobile phones, a laptop and six SIM cards from the condominium unit.
“We believe the condominium unit was used as a ‘collection centre’. Their call centres were located in other premises, including in Kuala Lumpur.
“Police are tracking a 34-yearold man, the owner of the condominium unit, to facilitate investigations,” he said.
Mazlan said investigations showed 24 cases reported in various states were linked to the syndicate.
“Five cases were traced in Selangor; Johor (five); Perak (three); Kedah, Penang, Melaka, and Kelantan (two) and Kuala Lumpur, Pahang and Negri Sembilan (one), involving losses amounting to RM887,168.78.”
He said Macau scam cases had increased from 197 to 208 cases between January and June this year compared with the same period last year.