SHAH ALAM: Two bank officers were among 16 people arrested for allegedly being involved in a syndicate selling bank accounts and distributing automated teller machine (ATM) cards for fraudulent purposes.
Selangor police chief Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said the individuals in their 20s and 30s were arrested in raids around Gombak between March 20 and 22.
He said those detained included 15 Malaysians, including four women, and one Nigerian woman.
"Investigations revealed that among those arrested were individuals playing roles as bank card collectors, runners who sought individuals willing to open accounts, and middlemen between the syndicate and local bank officers.
"Police seized 31 mobile phones, 30 ATM cards from various banks, a printing machine, laptop and one file containing various documents.
"Checks found that one local suspect was believed to be the mastermind behind the syndicate, and he has a criminal record under the Prevention of Crime Act 1959 (POCA) in 2021," Hussein told a press conference at the Selangor police headquarters here today.
He said the syndicate was believed to have been active for the past six months and offered one-off payments ranging from RM500 to RM1,500 to people who opened accounts and sold them to them.
He said the purchased bank accounts and ATM cards were then rented out or sold to syndicates engaged in fraudulent activities nationwide and they received proceeds from these things.
"Investigations into the two bank employees working as mobile deposit specialists (MDS) found that they did it to achieve their key performance indicators (KPIs).
"They registered bank accounts for individuals without conducting thorough checks. Investigations found a total of 40 accounts were opened by the two bank officers."
Hussein said police also identified five bank accounts found during the raids involved in 15 online fraud cases with losses totalling RM2.3 million nationwide.
All transactions took place between February and March.
He said police would call in the account owners for further investigation. The cases were being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating involving delivery of property and Section 120B of the same code for criminal conspiracy.
"The public is advised not to be deceived by offers given by this syndicate to rent out and hand over bank accounts and ATM cards for lucrative payments advertised on social media," he said.
