PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) yesterday smashed an international investment scam syndicate, which had raked in a whopping RM200 million from victims in Australia and the United Kingdom.
The graft-busters' covert operation, code named Op Tropicana, was held simultaneously at 24 premises in Klang Valley and Penang without the involvement of the police.
MACC said the syndicate had bribed the authorities to enable their operations to continue unhindered since 2019.
The syndicate had lured victims to park money in non-existent investment portfolios. It had set up 24 companies which were used to temporarily park money transferred by victims abroad, before the money was channelled to other bank accounts overseas.
The end destination would be the syndicates' accounts.
The multi-layered approach was done to hamper efforts to trace its illegal activities.
Members of the media who covered the raid were kept in the dark about the nature of the operation until the very last minute, when the authorities swooped down on a 14-storey building here, which served as one of the scammers' "boiler rooms" or operation centres.
The centre in Petaling Jaya was almost threadbare, save for a number of telephones on each desk. A large variety of scripts were also taped to the walls as a guide on how to persuade victims to "invest" their money.
It is understood that the syndicate had used Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phones, which allowed them to mask their numbers to make it appear as if they were indeed representatives of the particular companies.
Apart from offices, it was learnt that the syndicate also used houses as their base of operations.
One of the suspects, a New Zealand national, had tried to escape the authorities by jumping off the 14th floor of the building. However, he landed on the 11th floor and broke his hand and leg in the process.
MACC is investigating those they rounded up for money laundering.
Corruption charges will also be drawn up for allegedly corrupting members of the authorities who had provided protection for their scam centres.
MACC Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said the syndicate was believed to have bribed the authorities to take care of the safety of its members and enable it to operate its centres unimpeded.
The syndicate, he said, consisted of Australians, Britons, South Africans and Filipinos.
"The syndicate found their victims by posting advertisements regarding non-existent investment companies on social media.
"Once a victim registered for the investment, the syndicate would give them a call to convince them to invest.
"The syndicate is believed to have raked in approximately RM200 million since 2019."
A total of 74 bank accounts belonging to individuals and companies have since been frozen, with an estimated value of RM11 million.
Azam said the multi-agency operation was conducted with collaboration from the Immigration Department, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, CyberSecurity Malaysia, Telekom Malaysia, the Malaysian Companies Commission, Tenaga Nasional Bhd and the Inland Revenue Board.
A total of 164 officers from various agencies were involved in the operation.
The authorities had utilised various methods to uncover the syndicate's activities, including financial investigations, using covert operatives and even going undercover.
"Intelligence was conducted in collaboration between agencies in Australia and several foreign countries, together with MACC's Anti-Money Laundering division," Azam said.
The division's director, Datuk Mohamad Zamri Zainul Abidin, who led the raid, said 11 people were arrested for their suspected involvement in the syndicate.
Another 70 people working with the syndicate were arrested by the Immigration Department.
The remand application for all the suspects would be carried out today.
