Johor cops uncover Macau Scam syndicate, nab eight

JOHOR BAHRU: Police have uncovered a new Macau Scam syndicate that has only been operating for a week, following the arrest of eight local men in three separate raids conducted in the city and Kulai on Oct 15 and 19.

Johor police chief, Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay, said that the men, aged between 21 and 43, were suspected of acting as trainees of new employees, who taught fraud techniques involving disguising as enforcement officers.

He said that the syndicate, which was believed to also have an international network, was active in recruiting and training workers, before being assigned as operators at the scam’s call centres, here and abroad, including in Cambodia, Dubai and the United Arab Emirates.

“Apart from being trainers, they are also believed to play the role of agents, call centre operators, account managers and scriptwriters, based in Johor Bahru and Kuala Lumpur.

“They were offered a monthly salary of RM3,000 and a three per cent commission for each successful fraud. We believe this syndicate started operations recently and its members have yet to receive the salary payment as offered,” he told a press conference at the Johor police contingent headquarters yesterday.

The investigation also found that the new workers would be placed in several bungalow units in the city and Kulai within a month until they are skilled in disguising themselves as enforcement officers, he said.

Following that, Ayob Khan said that his team was now tracking down two men, Su Hao Shou, 33, whose last known address was in Taman Stulang, here and Mohamad Khairuddin Syah, 25, whose address was in Taman Damai Jaya, Skudai, believed to be the mastermind of the syndicate.

Meanwhile, on the case of a scam using a fraudulent letter of undertaking to conduct foreign currency exchange transactions using the name of Tunku Mahkota of Johor, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, he said that the police were tracking down two family members, M Parameswaran, 64, and P Kuganathan, 34, whose address was in Taman Sibilin, Ipoh, Perak, to facilitate the investigation.

“We have recorded statements from three individuals, but these two individuals mentioned have yet to be traced; both claimed to have served at the Istana Johor,” he said.