KUALA LUMPUR, July 23 – Ten individuals, including a bank manager, believed to be involved in fraudulent withdrawals of RM24.7 million from fixed deposit accounts of bank account holders, will be charged in Kota Kinabalu on Thursday.
Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said nine suspects would be charged under Section 130V(1) of the Penal Code (for being a member of an organised crime group) and one other under the National Registration Regulations 1990,” he told reporters during a press conference, on Tuesday.
“This is the first time that court action is being taken under provisions of SOSMA for an offence involving commercial crime.
Ramli added that the syndicate had started planning the ‘heist’ since end of last year and started activating their plan from March to June.
The arrest was made after police received four reports from account holders and bank staff in early June in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, when the victims noticed suspicious cash withdrawals made in Kota Kinabalu involving their fixed deposit accounts.
He said all the account holders involved denied any knowledge of the transactions and said they had never been to Kota Kinabalu to make the withdrawals.
Police later detained 14 suspects, including for bank officers and a ‘Datuk’ businessman after carrying out raids in Perlis and Sabah.
